


A Practice in Humanity

by Ourea



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clan Politics, F/F, Fix-It, Madara is a child, Parent-Child Relationship, Pre-Canon Era, Redemption, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-06 12:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11036598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ourea/pseuds/Ourea
Summary: Instead of killing Madara, Hashirama decides that even Madara can be redeemed, and the War could be avoided entirely. He uses a forbidden jutsu, developed by his clan to end Madara's life in one timeline, and revive him in another. However, in order to revive Madara, a life must be taken as well. He selects one of his descendants to bare the great burden of bringing the hateful Uchiha to humanity once again.Madara finds himself growing up once again, this time with the nine tail's jinchuriki and a plan that is almost absolutely ruined. Those he previously manipulated and used are no longer fearful of him.





	1. Chapter 1

“I’m sorry it has to be done this way. I don't want to kill you.” Hashirama looked on at Madara, restrained by the many shinobi of Konoha. They crowded around on the water at the Valley of the End. “I’m sorry, Madara.” There was no trace of his childhood friend in those dark brown eyes, that line-stricken face that reflected only the exhaustion that comes with undeath. Seals ran up his arms, spiraling and making quick patterns that even Madara’s activated sharingan couldn’t keep up with.

“ _What are you doing?”_ Madara demanded in a hoarse, deadly tone. He strained against the chakra that bound him. He snarled and glared up at the blonde Jinchuriki that held one of his arms down.

“Madara.” Hashirama said after he finished the fifty-eight seals in rapid procession. “I _never_ wanted to do this.” He said sadly. His voice was trembling. “You’re forcing me to do this.”

“What are you talking about?!” Madara yelled, face contorting with righteous hatred. He choked as he felt his chest tighten and his heart jump out of rhythm. He looked now to the face of his most recent project: Sasuke. “Why are you helping him?! Don’t you want to end this?!”

“We are ending this.” Sasuke replied curtly, eyes inky black and cold. He looked just like Izuna in that moment. Right down to that Mangekyo sharingan. 

“You’re a traitor to the Uchiha name!” Madara hissed. “You’re scum! I’m going to kill **all** of you!” Madara had long lost control over his reactions as he grew closer and closer to a violent, unsatisfying outcome. _This_ wasn’t in his plan. _This_ wasn’t how it was supposed to go—and now—…

“Madara, please forgive me one day.” Hashirama’s voice wavered. As Madara’s vision blurred and swirled in the most vertigo-inducing way, he swore he could see tears streaking down the cheeks of his childhood friend.

A scream tore from his throat. He felt cold, he felt cold and isolated. The pain in his chest stopped and the world around him was dark. He couldn’t see, but he knew he was alone.

 

* * *

 

Long experienced ninja could feel ninjutsu. It was a very odd feeling, but it was almost like a sixth sense. It was like the crinkle in the air just before the strike of light then a clap of thunder. Those who’ve faced the more powerful ninjutsu, knew it felt more like a high altitude. What could be easily mistaken for adrenaline was a feeling of light headedness that came upon someone when encountering a large release of chakra.

So, when Joben felt that particular prickle on the back of her neck, she cautiously pretended that she had not noticed. She subtly tried to release herself, in fear it may have been a genjutsu. Finding no such thing, she carefully paced one foot in front of the other as she spied her surroundings with a great amount of hesitation. Her yellow eyes scanned her environment with a seasoned precision.

“Ah,” She hummed to herself. Joben pushed her long, muddy brown hair from her shoulder as she extended her arm. It was littered with minor scars that didn’t tell a particularly interesting story, but also held the tattoo for her summons. She used the nail of her thumb to dig quickly into her forearm and she spread the blood over the seal. Slamming her hand into the ground, there was a faint shimmer in the air before a large clouds of smoke shot from beneath her palm. In front of her, an elegant bird, black of feather and standing on long legs. It lowered its head, necklace with dangle from its elongated neck. “Good morning, Gouro.” She smiled to the stork.

“Good morning, Akagi.” He rose from the bow, flexing the large span of his wings in a stretching like motion. “What is it that I am to do?”

“So formal.” She smiled lightly. “I told you, call me Joben. Or Jo—just not Akagi.” Joben pleaded.

“It’s in my nature to be formal,” Gouro dismissed. “My siblings have the luxury of informality, as the youngest, I need every advantage.”

“ _Ah_ ,” She replied noncommittedly. “I need you to sweep the area. I know I felt a powerful ninjutsu. I’m not losing it.” She pointed a wooden finger at him. “Can you scout the area ahead and behind me and let me know what’s happening?”

“I will do that promptly.” Gouro said with another dip of his head before his wings twitched and he was in the air, soaring high above her at the speed of a greater bird.

She yawned a bit and craned her neck left, then right, before continuing to walk. Gouro would find her rather easily when he had something to report. She had obtained the summon in her genin year, an impressive achievement at the time. She had been the prodigy of Kiri as a child, but after she received the ranking of Special Jonin, she had stopped developing; only trained to retain her current level of skill. There was no longer that starry-eyed ambition to become Hunter Nin. Not after the horrors that such titles brought to her former teammates.

Clouds passed nonchalantly overhead as day began to rise. With her summon watching for her, she felt inclined to let her mind wander. No shinobi in their right mind made a habit of it, but nobody ever accused Joben of being right-minded.

Her mind wandered to the warm welcome that awaited her. An almost silly grin crossed her face as she thought of her wife and son playing games together. She often caught them in the middle of that when she returned home, but they would stop abruptly, her son would run up to her, jumping from the floor like a tightly wound spring and latching his arms around her neck. She would spin him around before settling him back on the floor to kiss her wife. A flutter formed in her chest.

“There is nothing around you.” Gouro’s sudden voice startled Joben from her pleasant day dreaming. She grimaced but then smiled.

“Would you like to eat dinner with us tonight? I should be getting home in a couple of hours.” Joben offered amicably. Gouro’s beak lowered slightly, the red-orange hue catching in the sun to make it look much lighter than it truly was. His feathers ruffled for a moment.

“Is Koichi going to try to ride my back again?” Gouro asked thoughtfully.

“Ha! I knew it bothered you!” Joben accused, stance wide and triumphant as she pointed and laughed, obnoxious in nature.

“I was being polite!” Gouro asserted, tone authoritarian yet indignant all at once.

“Not at all; I won’t let the menace that is my son hop on your back. He’s three now! He knows better!” Joben laughed, holding up three fingers proudly. Gouro stared at her blankly. She wiggled those three fingers at him. “Would you like to see a photograph?”

“No, I’m leaving. I’ll be by for dinner, though.” Gouro said. “I do hope Kouki is cooking.”

“That’s a very polite way to say something very rude—my cooking is just fine!” Joben yelled.

“Goodbye, Joben.” Gouro called and flapped his wings for a moment before taking into the air and vanishing.

As the dust of the road settled, Joben let a content smile replace the determined look in her eyes. Harassing Gouro made the time go by quicker. She chuckled lightly to herself before taking a deep breath.

“Time to focus.” She determined with a nod, then continued along her path.

Surely as she had stated before, in a mere two hours she was facing the towering gates of Konoha after walking for two days straight. They were formidable landmarks, impossible to mistake for another village. She felt tension gradually recede in her bones, though there was always a bit of readiness there. That constant nag of paranoia came with the job.

“Akagi Joben, back from a mission!” She called before the question was asked. She waved at the two guards.

“You weren’t due back until tomorrow, Joben.” Kotetsu called.

“Ah. I couldn’t wait any longer?” She scratched her cheek, laughing lightly. “Besides, I can’t possibly leave Kouki alone too long in this village!” She raised her fist. “She’s too pretty to leave for long periods of time! I need to defend her!”

“I really don’t think that’s an issue.” Izumo deadpanned. “You heard what your _house wife_ did to Jiraiya, right? I still don't believe she's a genin.”

“Ha.” She smiled. “That’s right. Well, I better get to the Hokage with this mission report. See you two around!” Joben waved as she paced forward. She grinned widely as the prelude of the gate shrunk behind her. She practically pranced with glee as she wound through the market. The civilians of Konoha weren’t particularly fond of her. Her past was not classified information. They knew she was born and raised in Kiri, and perhaps their fear was well founded, but she paid no mind. Those who mattered knew of her loyalty to Konoha.

When she had first arrived, she was met with great, unfettered resistance by the Council. Konoha was willing to let Kouki emigrate to Kiri, but the thought of a special jonin, raised in the era of the Bloody Mist was daunting. That didn’t stop her from going through not only the arduous amounts of paper work, but the life threatening missions and trials she was sent on by Konoha to test her skill and loyalties.

After a long three years of constant debate with some old bag named Danzo, countless trips between the villages to see her beloved fiancé, and endless stacks of paperwork, she was surprised as the most recent (at the time) trip to Konoha was met with an immediate summons to the office of the Third Hokage. The village was in shambles when he gave her the hitai-ate. She had never been so proud in her life.

Logically, she knew the elders relented because many of their powerful leaders were dead, including their Fourth Hokage. Adding a special jonin to their ranks meant an added bit of safety. Of course, that didn’t stop Danzo’s personal force of Anbu from watching her for the next six months to determine she wasn’t sending any classified information to Kiri’s elders. Not that she had access to anything interesting in the first place.

She was a valuable asset, but they would never trust her fully. They sent her on dangerous missions, but she never handled information or diplomacy. It made sense. She had fought against Konoha in the war, she had killed many of their shinobi on the battlefield, so they would never truly trust her. Admittedly, she didn’t mind one bit. 

She had accomplished her dream. Joben had found a beautiful wife, and after a few trips to the hospital’s maternity ward and nine long months of anticipation, a shining son.

Joben snapped from her thoughts as the large building of the Hokage came into view. She hummed to herself as she badged in and headed up the steps. She nodded to those she knew along the way and knocked on the nondescript door to the office.

“Enter.” She heard Hiruzen call. “Akagi Joben. You weren’t expected back until tomorrow.” He said, though his tone was anything but accusatory.

She bowed deeply before standing up straight and giving an almost goofy smile. There was a gap in her teeth that made the action look childish. “I apologize for the surprise. I finished the mission.”

She held out the sealed scroll as his Anbu guard took it from her with a slight incline of his head.

“Very good. You are dismissed.” Hiruzen nodded lightly. Joben bowed respectfully once again before nearly bolting out. The next stop was home and she could barely contain herself.

Joben decided that the stairs were too time consuming. Instead, she took a page from the book of a good friend of hers and opened a window, wandering through some secretary’s office and startling him thoroughly as she jumped from his window and started sprinting eagerly through the village, whooping loudly as she headed for the civilian residential quarter of her sprawling home.

“Mama!” She heard a call as she skidded to a stop, kicking up dust into the potted garden Kouki had so tediously tended in front of their house.

“Child!” She called in return, widening her stance and holding her arms out. Koichi giggled and jumped at her. “Woah! Flying squirrel!” She laughed as he jumped much higher than anticipated and she actually had to straighten up to catch him. “Look at you, you little acrobat.”

“You’re home!” He laughed, holding on tightly to her neck and burying his nose in her shoulder. “We _missed_ you!” His voice wavered. Joben’s brow knit ever slightly as she felt warm tears drip down the shoulder exposed by her flak jacket.

“What’s wrong, ‘Chi?” She mumbled lightly, now holding onto her son much tighter. Her gold eyes fell to the door frame where her wife smiled at her.

“One of the other kids said you wasn’t gonna come home ‘cause you went to your real home in Kidigakure.” He muttered into her jacket. Joben frowned. Much to her wife’s chargrin, their son inherited her tendency to mumble and mispronounce words from not speaking a bit louder.

“Ah. Well, you can tell those other kids to shove it, ‘cause Mama’s always gonna come home.” Joben promised, patting Koichi’s back lightly as he hesitantly sat back in her arms and looked at her.

“Swear?” He asked.

“I swear.” She nodded, smiling at him with that toothy grin that ran in her father’s side of the family. When he returned it, she hoisted him onto her shoulders, holding his ankles as he let out a happy shout. Normally, she had to duck to get through the door, but now she had to practically crawl in on her knees so that Koichi didn’t hit his head. Damn Konoha and their short ass offspring.

“Welcome home.” Kouki smiled, holding her arms out. Joben sat Koichi down carefully and embraced her wife, pulling her into a tight hug. She wrapped one pale and muscled arm around her waist, the other came up her back so that she could wind her hand through her wife’s blonde hair.

“Gouro’s having dinner with us—and no more asking Gouro for rides.” She looked pointedly down at her son.

“We’ll see.” Koichi nodded stoically, crossing his arms. His spikey brown hair flew every which way as he suddenly whipped his head around as the spoken of bird landed on their open window before fluttering in. “Gorou!”

“Good evening, young Akagi.” Gouro dipped his head uncomfortably as (with great delicacy, almost to the point of not touching) Koichi wrapped his chubby arms around the bird’s torso before withdrawing and padding back to Joben, socks muffling his haphazard thuds against the polished floor. “Good evening, Mrs. Akagi, Akagi.”

“My name is Kouki.” She deadpanned, pointing at her face in an unamused fashion, light blue eyes focusing dangerously on the bird. Joben chuckled and leaned over, planting a kiss on her soft hair. “And you know I kept my last name, Gouro.”

“I come from a traditional—“ The stork began.

“ _Alright_ , dinner time!” Joben clapped her hands and darted to the kitchen to serve the food before Kouki got the chance.

“Wait—Joben you’ve probably been walking all day, let me do it.” Kouki insisted lightly.

“Never!” Joben asserted dramatically.

“Go sit down!” Kouki demanded and Joben’s sturdy stature folded in on itself as she shrunk, largely taken down by Kouki’s snap.

“Yes, love.” She mumbled, staggering to the dinner table with her head lowered.

Kouki couldn’t help but giggle at her wife’s antics. She sighed contentedly, a large burden having been released from her shoulders upon Joben’s safe arrival (and this time without injury). Her eyes settled on the tall woman as she slouched in the chair, poking fun at both her summon and her son.

“Yeah! I’m gonna be friends with that kid! You know—tha’ kid from the orphanage!!” Koichi slammed his tiny fists on the table, a movement full of happy determination.

“Ohhh, you mean—god, _what_ was his name.” Joben knit her brows, suddenly taking on a deathly serious look.

“Narudo!” Koichi said with a glimmer in his eye. His smile was missing a few teeth.

Kouki froze in the door way. For a moment, she could smell blood, and feel the suffocation of a chakra too powerful to comprehend. The mere mention of the child's name brought back unpleasant memories. She blinked and it was gone. She smiled at her son and wife, and gave a less-than-authentic smile to Gouro as she carefully balanced four plates full of food expertly.

“Those waitressing years paid off.” Joben nodded proudly. “You have retained a lifelong skill of balance, and the ability to pull off an extremely short skirt.” She grinned lecherously up at Kouki as she set her plate in front of her. After Kouki sat down everyone’s food, she shot Joben a look that froze the jonin in her place. She giggled nervously. “H-Hey, ‘Ki it was just a joke.”

“Don’t make lascivious comments in front of our son.” Kouki said assertively and narrowed those sharp eyes at Joben.

“Yes, love.” Joben lowered her head, though her smile was mirthful and amused. “Oh! Hey—is today Tuesday? Holy shit—how’d that debriefing go with Hatake?”

“He was transparent and compliant as always,” Kouki said dryly. “Honestly, I was so excited when Inoichi passed him to me as my project, but now I see it wasn’t just to bolster my resumé. He may be the worst patient I've ever had.”

“Ah.” Joben nodded. “Hatake can be kind of a…”

“Child? Lech? Public Nuisance?” Kouki wondered.

“Lech? I never thought Kakashi was perverted?” Joben tilted her head, speaking with a mouth full of food. Koichi watched the exchange with bright eyes as he ate quickly, knowing the quicker he was done with dinner, the quicker he could play outside.  
  
“He’s always reading those novels, in plain sight! He’s some sort of weird exhibitionist.” Kouki decided. Joben snorted.

“This is really good. What do you think, Gouro?” Joben asked when she realized her summon was staring at her with those wide crimson eyes. She couldn’t quite read his expression, though she had never been particularly good at deciphering the emotions of feathered folk.

“There’s something on you.” Gouro said, tone dry. Kouki’s eyes widened.

“Koichi!” Kouki yelled, suddenly standing up. “Tag!” She shouted, tapping his shoulder and darting out of the front door.

Their son was alarmed at first, but took to giggling as he scrambled from his seat and pursued his mother, gleefully prancing at their surprise game of tag.

“That chakra from earlier.” Gouro specified once Kouki had removed the little ears from the table.

“What do you mean ‘on me’?” Joben asked worriedly. “Are they in danger?”

“It seems like some sort of tag or marker.” Gouro said lowly. “You need to get it removed.”

“Right.” Joben said, then looked remorsefully down at her meal. “My first hot meal in a week and I have to abandon it.” She sighed loudly, looking utterly and dramatically dejected. “My wife slaves away for a welcome-home-meal and I leave it half eaten, to get cold.” She mumbled until a sudden peck at her arm got her moving. “Okay, okay. I’ll go to… um…”

“You should probably head to Inoichi.” Gouro suggested.

“Sigh.” Joben pouted.

Gouro’s expression looked suddenly judgemental. “Did you just say ‘sigh’, instead of sighing?”

“To Inoichi!” Joben declared, listening for a moment to find where her son and wife were. “I’m headed to see your uncle real quick!” She called to Koichi, who was currently running around to try and find Kouki.

“Have fun, mama!” He waved before darting around the house.

Joben took a deep breath and smiled warily. “I hate going to see him when it’s not necessary, I always feel like he gets inside my head.” She whined as she ducked through the door way, Gouro in tow.

“He wouldn’t find anything of value there.” Gouro said.

“Did you just make a joke?!” Joben whipped around and walked backwards so she could give Gouro a full look of disbelief. He huffed and rustled his wings lightly.

“I’m capable of humor.” He said dryly.

“Of course, of course. That’s what a stork’s known for.” Joben grinned and turned back around as she treaded through the quiet streets. Sunset was much more pleasant in Konoha than it was Kiri. In Kiri it brought two things: the cold, and the hunter-nin. In Konoha, it brought a blissful quiet and the drunks. She enjoyed the village in all its aspects.

Before she knew it, she had arrived at the main house of the Yamanaka clan. She waved lightly at a couple of family members she couldn’t remember the names to.

“Auntie Joben!” She heard a girly voice call.

Joben cracked a wide smile and looked around as if she couldn’t find which way the voice was coming from.

“Boo!” Ino squeaked, grabbing onto her pants leg. The girl had just turned four and barely came up to her knees. Joben jumped then let out a squeal, causing a new laughter to erupt from the small girl.

“Oh! No! What terrible fate belies my fallen soul! So lost am I to the terror that is Ino!” Joben crumpled to the ground as Ino jumped on her back, laughing and holding on tight in a mock strangle-hold. “Darkness! Lo!—Darkness and cold surround me!”

“You’re stupid, auntie.” Ino giggled and stopped ‘strangling’ her in exchange for hugging her. “So what’d you bring me back from Kiri?!”

“Ah! Little girls should be modest and not expect gifts!” Joben got up to her knees so that she could see Ino at eye level.

“Well, this little girl knows her aunt, and her aunt always brings her stuff!” She smiled widely.

“I’m spoiling you.” Joben mumbled with a grin before fishing around in one of the scroll pockets of her jacket. “Ah. Here it is.” She fished out a green marble. Ino gasped.

“It’s pretty!” She managed.

“It’s for your collection.” Joben ruffled the girl’s blonde hair before standing up. “Do you know if your father is home?”

“Yeah, he’s in his office doing papers!” Ino cheered, admiring the marble before running off somewhere. “See you later, auntie! Bring ‘Chi next time!”

“I will!” Joben waved, laughing as the fire cracker that Inoichi called a daughter disappeared around a corner.

“I can’t tell which side of the family Koichi developed his attitude from. He gets his excitement from the Yamanaka, though. I’m almost certain.” Gouro commented, glad the girl had ignored him.

“Oh, if you weren’t such a grump—Ah, there he is.” Joben cut herself off, knocking on the door.

“Yes, Akagi?” Inoichi called from the other side.

“Hey! So, ‘hope you’re not busy—“

“I am.”

“I was out on this mission and I encountered what felt like a huge amount of chakra being released.” She continued anyway. Inoichi frowned at first, but he couldn’t help a bemused grin. “I think it tagged me.”

“Yes, I can sense it.” Inoichi said after a moment then waved her over. Joben ducked into his small office and sat in the chair he would let his therapy patients sit in. Rarely would he let them come to his home for their sessions, but there were a few he trusted with that. His brow knit all of the sudden, and his blue eyes hardened into a mean glare. “I am having trouble recognizing the chakra signature, however.”

“Well, if it’s a total stranger—“

“It’s not, I know it. It’s familiar, but I can’t place it.” Inoichi hummed thoughtfully for a moment before sighing. “Don’t go home.”

Joben hesitated. Her goofy expression dripped away and she was staring at him with total neutrality. “I wouldn’t put her in danger.”

“You already did by going home. Did you not feel the tag?” He asked.

“I am not as good of a sensor type as I am given credit for sometimes.” She made a nervous laughter to try and break the tension.

“It’s not expected of you.” Inoichi shrugged, then turned to look out of the window over top his desk. He gazed out at the darkening sky for a moment. “I’ll have to do a bit of research, but don’t go home tonight. Do you have some place to stay? You’re welcome at the guest house.”

“No, thank you.” Joben gave a lopsided smile. “I’ll crash on a friend’s couch or something. I’ve been meaning to catch up with Hatake.”

“Right. I’ll find you when I discover something.” Inoichi finally gave a smile.

“See you!” Joben hummed, ducking out and heading into Konoha’s streets once again. She sighed. The only reason she had hustled home was so that she could see her family again, and now she had to spend yet another night away. Still, Kakashi wasn’t bad company. If he was home, even.

She made her way up the stairs of his apartment building before preforming a few signs and deactivating the traps he had so carefully laid. She knelt down by the handle of the door and removed a tiny pouch from her jacket, finding all of her lock picking tools there. Her pale hands were steady as she slowly worked through the lock. She opened the door to find no one in the apartment. She gave a little shrug and shut the door behind her, reactivating the traps he had laid and wandering into the kitchen.

A groan escaped her as she realized Kakashi likely had put off grocery shopping again. She grabbed a soon-to-be-rotten apple from the back of the fridge and bit into it, shutting the refrigerator with her foot. She wandered over to his couch before plopping down and grabbing a book from a rather impressive pile on the coffee table. She had long finished the apple, eating even the core, when she became engrossed in one of the cheesy romance novels he kept rereading.

“Breaking and entering is illegal, you know.” She heard a deep, but familiar voice.

“It wouldn’t be breaking and entering if you gave your best friend a key.” Joben whined as she looked up from the book, only to see a whole lot of judgement coming from one dark eye.

“What if I had brought someone home with me?” Kakashi questioned, brow lifted.

“Oh please.” She snorted and sat the book down, sitting up to make room on the couch. Kakashi sighed dramatically and sat down.

“My neighbors think you’re my girlfriend.”

“That means we really are best friends. A friendship’s true scope is measured by how many people assume the two friends are romantically involved!” Joben declared.

“So, what are you doing back early? And not at home?” Kakashi asked, annoyance slowly leaving his voice. He wasn’t the most social of people, but Joben was someone who didn’t give introverts like him a chance to retreat most of the time. It would have been unpleasant for not their shared comradery.

“Ah.” Joben grimaced, an unsual look for her. Yellow eyes found the dusty ceiling and she leaned back, putting her bare feet on the coffee table. “Some ninja tagged me with their chakra on my way back. I don’t want to be at home in case someone was using that tag to find my loved ones.”

“I appreciate you bringing the possible danger to my house.” Kakashi smiled sarcastically. Joben snorted.

“Nothing we can’t handle!” Joben decided with a firm nod.

“You are too enthusiastic to be attacked.” Kakashi decided. “I’m going to bed. Get your own blanket.”

“’Kay!” Joben called as he walked off and hurried over to the linen closet, finding a particularly warm looking quilt. She burrowed against the couch and covered up, staring blankly and wide eyed out of the glass door that divided the apartment and balcony. As she closed her eyes, attempting to find sleep, she was haunted with images that seemed foreign to her, yet all too familiar.

She was brought up in the war. Most of her missions as genin were leading funeral processions, identifying dead bodies, and cleaning up rubble. Her chunin missions were scouting. Her first jonin mission was to capture a Konoha nin for interrogation. Her eyes opened and trained into the darkness.

She and Kakashi were connected long before she decided the love of her life was in the Leaf. It was her sensei who captured Kakashi’s teammate and her friends who sealed the Three Tailed Beast into the young medic. When she had met Kakashi she could only stare in horror. When he found out who she was, he tried to kill her. He tried to kill her seven times, before the last attempt. The eighth attempt came when Joben was so low that she didn’t try to stop him. Shortly after that, they became friends.

Nothing bonds people more than shared trauma. Joben felt her bones grow cold as the thoughts of the war continued in her brain no matter how much she tried to shut it off. Her fingers found the hitai-ate tied on her bicep and ghosted over the symbol for Konoha. For whatever reason, these visions she was having of the battlefield… she couldn’t recognize. There were unfamiliar figures, but a few that made sense.

Curiously, she shut her eyes and let the visions come to the fore front of her mind. No, she recognized a hand full of people. She recognized Kakashi first, then Shikaku and Inoichi. Her eyes shot open when it became too much and she belatedly realized she was sweating and trembling. She had seen Ino. She was certain of it. Crying, briefly before she stood and returned to battle. Her brow knit in confusion and terror.

Her feet made the decision before her brain did, but she exited the apartment through the well-used window. Perhaps since she couldn’t sleep, she would stroll through the village. She had long taken notice of the Anbu following her, so she decided to take her walk to the forest, where then, confidently on the edge of the village with a minimal amount of prying eyes, she turned to her stalker and crossed her arms, looking all the visage of a disappointed mother.

The man landed in front of her. She noted his mask first. It was that of a cat, with oddly wide eyes and red and green markings along it.

“My name is Tenzo.” He began. Joben immediately broke into a wide smile, startling him.

“You’re Kaka’s underling?!” She whispered excitedly. The Anbu’s shoulders stiffened. For a stoic personality, he seemed indignant.

“That’s classified information.” He said evenly.

“Yup. Yup.” Joben nodded fiercely. “You’re definitely he. Nice to meet you—I’m Joben. Don’t you dare call me Jo.” She stuck a friendly hand out. Tenzo did not shake her hand. She let it hang there for a moment, smiling still but now with wide, expectant eyes. The Anbu sighed before shaking her hand limply. “So what can I do for you?”

“You need to accompany me to see the Hokage.” He explained. “Please, do not resist.”

“Wait, why would I resist? What’s this about? —And if I were to resist, why the hell did they only send one of you?!” She scoffed.

“I’m capable.” Tenzo said flatly and began walking away. Joben made an exaggerated sigh before falling in step behind him.

“Oh man, I feel like I’m in my academy years all over again, being escorted to the office. But I’m almost certain I didn’t stick piranhas in my rival’s bag.” She hummed, crossing her arms again and pouting.

He said nothing, still.

“You’re exactly how he described you.” She smiled lightly. Tenzo was about to look over his shoulder at her but decided against it. She couldn’t see it, due to those awfully creepy masks, but he was grinning.

“Please, go straight to the Hokage’s—you could have taken the stairs!” He called as she jumped onto the roof’s edge of the first level before propelling herself upwards. She tapped on the window.

“Enter.” The Hokage called. There were three Anbu now with him.

She opened the window and slipped in, walking from behind his large, organized desk to the front of it and bowing respectfully.

“I’m sure you know what this is about, but for formality’s sake, I’ll tell you anyway.” Hiruzen said after a moment. He had a pipe he was smoking. Like father like son, she thought distractedly. “You were marked by an unknown ninja on your way into the village. Kouki’s brother managed to recognize the chakra signature.” Joben did all in her power to not speak out of turn. “It’s a Senju Clan signature, without a doubt.”

“Senju Clan?” Instinctively, she looked to the portraits on the wall of the first two Hokage. Hiruzen nodded. “I thought that…”

“There are few descendants, such as the sannin Tsunade. There is one as well that carries the sought after Wood Chakra Release.” Hiruzen blew out a bit of smoke and shut his eyes. “Though this is a troublesome discovery. In all likelihood it is another of his experiments.”

Joben paused, her face grew serious again, a neutral expression that seemed all too foreign.

“It struck me as odd that you would be targeted by this Senju. Due Danzo’s suspicions, we have requested a file on you from the Mizukage. So, I’ll ask now to avoid any surprises; is there anything we need to know about, that we don’t already?” His dark eyes narrowed further, observing each of her slightest changes in expressions. She ended up looking behind him at the Anbu. Joben straightened up.

“You are aware of my… excellence at the Academy during those years.” Joben said, normally cheerful voice dark and without any sort of mirth. “Of my former teammate being Hoshigaki. Of my involvement in the War.” Her voice lowered to a whisper now. “Those are the only three things I hold shame in.”

“What of your family, Akagi? Before you, I had never encountered that surname.” Hiruzen asked. Joben found his eyes again and grimaced.

“My father’s heritage is unknown to me, but his surname was Akagi.” Joben frowned.

“Very well. If you have nothing else to reveal, then you are dismissed.” Hiruzen looked to Tenzo, who seemed to still have square shoulders. Joben bowed deeply and chose the door this time to exit.

Joben shuffled out quickly before Tenzo was behind her.

“You’ll stay with the Anbu until we know this threat.” He informed her. She sighed and gave him a look.

“So domineering.” She whined but stepped aside for him to lead the way. “Go on then, lead me there.”

He said nothing in return but did just that, occasionally looking to check if she was still following. Of course, he could likely sense her. He was only looking at her to make sure she knew he was watching. She grinned as she saw him begin to look again. She crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, causing him to startle, then sigh as he looked away. She snickered.

“Please, don’t make sudden movements from here on out.” Tenzo prompted as he passed through some sort of barrier. Joben looked at it before sticking her hand through it and giving him a confused and horrified look. “Come in.” He said. She stuck her foot through it.

There was an unpleasant hum so she shot through it, sneezing when she got on the other side of it. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “What the hell was that?”

“It detects genjutsu and henges.” Tenzo answered succinctly.

“You walk through that every day?” She asked, sounding more incredulous than she should have.

“Several times.” He said and led her through a seemingly empty, subterranean corridor. He opened a door to a surprisingly well-lit room. “You can stay here.”

“Thanks, I suppose.” She yawned finally. It had to be close to midnight. She noticed when Tenzo left but made no move to show it. She looked around before deciding to explore her glorified prison tomorrow. That bed was calling her. Her frown deepened. Kouki wasn’t there and Koichi wouldn’t barge in at around 2am because he had a bad dream and needed his parents to soothe his fears.

She sat down on the edge of it before hesitantly laying down. It went against everything she knew to go to sleep in an unfamiliar environment with no familiar presence to take first watch. Though, she felt confident that she could trust Konoha’s Anbu. The only person she didn’t trust was Danzo, and his own battalion of ninja were heavily restricted. She doubted they could make a move on her. After all, despite her silliness she was very important to the bonds between the villages. There were few people willing to leave their home for diplomatic reasons and fewer who found their calling in foreign lands.

Joben stared into the dark nothingness as sleep slowly took her. Visions of war remained, but she managed to sleep regardless.

“Fifty-six… fifty-seven… fifty-eight…” Joben counted monotonously. She looked to her teammate, his face half obscured by a porcelain mask. He had been mutilated by a Konoha nin who was interrogating him, so after that he wore a mask to cover the scars. “Fifty-eight black tags. Three of them had been interrogated.”

“It’s likely that they leaked information. We should alert the Mizukage immediately and change our next attack strategy. This one knew it.” Her teammate said in a reserved voice.

“You’re not done here.” Their guard, Hoshigaki Kisame insisted. “Finish the count, then we go.” His voice left no room for argument. Joben sighed, looking down to the blood that soaked up to her knees. She went back to work, observing the dead, taking down names on her clip board. “You there.” Kisame called, as the chunin finished up her duty. Joben looked up, pushing her hair out of her face and effectively smudging her cheek with dead man’s blood. “Bring me the list.”

Perhaps she was an idiot, he thought. That she would trot up to him like she didn’t know his epithet. She wore that stupid grin, too, despite the circumstances. He narrowed his already glaring eyes further and snatched the list from her, looking over it with careful eyes. He didn’t recognize any of the names as important people, so he was less concerned about possible intel leaks.

“If you don’t stop smiling, I’m going to knock your teeth out.” He warned and Joben but a hand over her mouth, morbidly offended. She was expressive for someone who graduated from the academy alone. Those who graduated came out damaged, those who graduated alone…

He looked her over once more. She stood as tall as he did, but she didn’t look quite like she belonged in Kiri. She looked strikingly like a nin from Konoha. On the battlefield, they would often mistake her as such. He seethed at her for a moment before she abruptly turned her back on him and waved her teammate over. Yes, she was stupid, he decided. No one in their right mind exposed their back to him.

Their walk back was in silence, as Joben carried their third teammate, fallen in the midst of battle. She was a plucky girl, quiet and serious, with a dark sense of humor. Joben looked down at her still face sadly.

“She won’t be the last of your teammates to die. Or the next will be you.” Kisame said after noticing the unbridled, expressive sorrow in Joben’s gaze. “Learn to handle it like a ninja, not a civilian.” He hissed in disgust at her clear display of emotion.

As they walked on, eventually the others faded away without her notice. When she finally stopped at their village gate, she looked down to the girl in her arms only to find Kouki. A gasp tore from her throat and she began to hyperventilate. She knelt down, examining Kouki’s face in a whiplash of confusion as her memories mixed up and her vision melted and blurred.

In the dark, she could see two red eyes, close to the ground, but big and curious.

She shot up in bed, gripping her chest as she did her best to calm her breathing. There was someone at the door and she quickly gathered herself before coughing awkwardly, hoping they would go away and ignore the noises of alarm she had just made.

“Akagi.” The voice on the otherside of the door called. “You’ve overslept, it’s noon. You have summons.”

“Summons?” Joben echoed, voice cracking lightly with strain. She scratched her head, long, straight hair curtaining her face as she looked down at her lap. “Alright.”

She was certain her by the ache in her feet, that she was getting old. As a person, she was still young, mid-twenties being youthful. For a ninja, she was the age where she should get a job as a village guard or something. She followed the woman down the corridor until daylight struck her like a bat to the head. She rubbed her eyes and groaned a little as she had to exit through that damn barrier again.

“Ah, this isn’t the Hokage’s office.” Joben said idly as they approached T&I. Dread set into her stomach as she recognized a couple of faces she never wanted to see again.

“Akagi Joben.” Ibiki greeted as they reached an interrogation room.

“Ah,” She breathed, face contorting with clear apprehension. Anko, standing in the corner of the small room snorted. “How the hell are you, Ibiki? I haven’t seen you since you cut my fingers off outside of Kiri.”

“I sent a formal apology to your home.” He said tersely and gestured for her to sit down. Joben shrugged lightly, trying to act brave, though that wasn’t going so well for her. She plopped down, looking between him and Anko.

“Look, I’ll be honest, I don’t have access to the person who made these.” She wiggled her seven puppet fingers at Ibiki. “So no more cutting parts off.”

“I didn’t plan on torturing you.” Ibiki said.

“Then what’s that!” She huffed and pointed to all sorts of different tools of the trade laying out of on the table.

“You have a history of not answering my questions.” Ibiki said seriously and narrowed his eyes. “But I am more inclined to psychological torture now.”

“I got him to bring the stuff anyway, because you’re dumb as they come.” Anko snorted at Joben’s indignant pouting.

“So sexy, but so mean.” Joben whined, looking at Anko. “I’m not dumb! I just run into things occasionally.”

“All joking aside.” Ibiki interrupted them. “I need to get in your head, Joben.”

“Oh, so I don’t have to answer the questions, you’re just going to take them.” Joben grimaced. She looked at the waiver that Ibiki presented her with. There was clear amusement on her face as she took the pen from him and signed it. “Very well, but stay away from my memories of my wife! That’s a violation of her privacy!”

“This is Tobitake Tonbo.” Ibiki introduced Joben to a man with bandages wrapped around his head and eyes. He had a solemn look on his face. “He’s going to look inside your mind.”

“Joy.” Joben said with a grimace but nodded lightly. She opened her mouth to make another sarcastic remark but it failed her and she fell unconscious.

She observed as Tonbo delved into her memories, looking around. She had meant to ask what this was about, but it failed her. She watched the memories flash before her as he looked into each one.

Joben resigned to passively sitting there. It felt like entire days had passed but when she woke up, Ibiki informed her it had only been five hours. She sighed, feeling completely drained and violated. Tonbo’s frown was deeper than her own.

“Her father was Senju.” He said after a moment.

Joben flinched and looked at him. “What?” She squeaked. “Like from here in Konoha Senju? Like Wood Style and Yin and Yang Release Senju? Like Hokage Senju—“

“Yes.” Ibiki barked at her to shut her up. She stared in disbelief.

“But… I don’t remember him ever telling me that.” She said after a moment’s hesitation. Did they think she was lying to them?

“We know. But your father, Hideki Senju is a direct descendant of Hashirama, making you a great-grand daughter.” Tonbo spoke up.

“Why are you revealing this to me?” Joben asked after a moment. “Shouldn’t you discuss this beforehand?”

“We did. It is clear you harbor no ill intent, therefore you are not a threat.” Ibiki said curtly. “You’ve been out for ten hours. The procedure only took five, but we left you unconscious so we could consult.”

“Ah.” Joben said. “You’re a dick.”

“You weren’t awake to make idiot comments like that, so I thought it best.” He nodded briefly. “We have also removed the chakra marker from you so—“

“So I get to go home!” She whooped and shot out of the chair.

Ibiki gave a reluctant huff of amusement before gesturing towards the door.

“Bye!” She yelled, bolting out of a window and scampering across rooves. She was home before she knew it, sneaking into her bedroom window like a teenager.

Kouki gasped and gripped a pair of shears on the nightstand but relaxed after a moment. “Don’t scare me like that.” She whispered and swung her legs over the side of the bed, walking over to Joben and hugging her tightly.

“What did you tell our little ‘Chi?” Joben asked, kissing her deeply before she could answer.

“That you had been called away on a mission. I didn’t know how long you would be gone. I’m glad you’re back quickly. And in one piece.” Kouki smiled and stood on her tip toes for another kiss. She was by no means a short woman, but Joben’s height could dwarf anyone.

“Well, I’m home now, regardless.” Joben said carefully and placed her hand on Kouki’s warm cheek. “Ah. You’re beautiful.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Joben, you don’t need to get so shy. We’re married.” Kouki giggled, blushing heavily and grinning. Every time Joben looked at her like that, it felt like they were meeting just for the first time. “Joben, you’re crying.” She squeaked and reached up to wipe away her tears.

“Ah? Sorry, just had my brain examined. Must have remembered something sad.” Joben smiled, tilting her head a little before picking up Kouki and holding her bridal style to carry her to bed. She plopped her down before jumping beside her and enveloping her. “So, I’m related to your first two Hokages.”

“What—wait—damnit, Joben, you’re terrible at breaking news to people.” Kouki laughed lightly, then looked shocked again. She turned around so she was laying in Joben’s arms and facing her. “So… Hashirama and Tobirama Senju? I’m going to have to start calling you Joberama.”

“No, don’t do that.” Joben poked her side. “But yes, a Senju.” She chuckled a little.

“Huh. Well. I don’t know how to respond to that.” Kouki responded and stretched out before curling up. “You are restless.”

“I’ve been asleep for what feels like years.” Joben said. “Ibiki put me under.”

“What a dick.” Kouki rolled her eyes. “Inoichi complains a lot about him.”

“I can see why! I thought he was a dick when he sliced off my fingers.” Joben chuckled. Kouki grabbed her hand and played with it.

“I remember that.” Kouki said sadly. “I wish I would have been better at dressing wounds. I feel like the scars wouldn’t have been as ugly, but I’m not good at medical ninjutsu.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. It was a war. Besides, you pissed off everyone when they found out you helped me at all.” Joben laughed.

“I wasn’t cut out for T&I. Never was.” Kouki smiled lightly.

Joben watched with a huge smile as Kouki drifted off to sleep. She watched her all night, though some time closer to morning, a pit grew in her stomach as she felt how warm Kouki grew. She held her tightly. She would have to convince Kouki to go to the doctor in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

“You’re requesting to be taken off of duty?” Hiruzen nearly crowed, eyes wide at the strange event currently taking place. Joben was usually the first to volunteer if something needed to be done. Even the missions that nobody else wanted to do. “Why?”

“My wife, Yamanaka Kouki is ill with some sort of fever, as well as my son. I need to be home to watch after them.” Joben said, no mirth in her voice. In fact, there was only worry and desperation. He’d only ever seen the ex-Kiri nin as jovial, occasionally serious, but never fearful. Some part of him had once wondered if she could even be afraid. She had an uncanny likeness to their first leader, and she held that same childlike attitude while still being able to take care of business.

Since T&I had so kindly dipped into her memories and recognized her father’s face, it became known to him, the elders, and a few clan leader that she was Senju. She showed no sign other than her looks and her personality. She held no trace of the wood style jutsu, she had no ability in yin or yang releases, and no proficiency in time-space ninjutsu. She was quick, but not nearly as quick as Tobirama had been. When Hiruzen looked at her, he saw Hashirama. His smile was sad.

“Very well, you will be using your paid time off. My best wishes for a quick recovery to Yamanaka and the young Akagi.” He said politely and dismissed her. Her next stop was the pharmacy.

“It’s good to see you, Kabuto!” Joben waved happily to the grey haired boy. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, Akagi.” He smiled politely, a guarded expression. “You’re here for the prescriptions?”

“Straight to business.” Joben mumbled sadly before smiling again. “Yep! Are they ready?”

“Yes.” Kabuto handed her a paper bag full of medications. “Kouki is to take a pill every two hours until her fever breaks, then it can be twice a day. Koichi needs to do the same, but I included an additional medication. It will reduce the shivers and pain in his chest.”

“Great!” Joben chirped, thumbing through her wallet before paying for the medication. “See you around, Kabuto.”

“Have a good evening, Akagi.” He waved as she left and the smile fell from his face. There was something immensely wrong about that woman. He had the distinct feeling she would make herself an issue in the distant future.

She walked home in relative silence instead of singing to herself as she sometimes did. Joben stopped shortly as she spied a tiny blonde boy at her door step that was _not_ her kid. She approached him and smiled widely. “Hey there, squirt. Can I help you with something?”

“W- _Woah!_ ” The boy shot up and adorned a fighting stance, though it was sloppy and looked goofier than frightening. “Oh! Hey! You’re ‘Ichi’s mom! Right?!”

The kid was hyperactive and she loved it.

“Yeah.” She tilted her head. “And you would be?”

“My name is Naruto! But you can call me th' future Hokage! ‘attebayo.” He nodded fiercely and she laughed a bit at his antics. She liked this kid a lot.

“Alright there Godaime. I’d invite you inside but I’m afraid everyone’s sick.” Joben said.

“I know. That’s why I brought this! This is for Ichi’s other mom! And this is for Ichi!” Naruto handed her a handmade card, then a poorly wrapped parcel. He gave her a bright smile before darting off, surprisingly quick.

She couldn’t believe there was an ancient demon stuffed inside of that sun of a boy. What’s worse, she couldn’t believe the village didn’t adore him. He was such a cute kid. She laughed to herself and shook her head as she opened the door. Their loss. She’d make sure to somehow make it up to him.

There was no hug at the door and she smiled sadly as she made her way to the kitchen. The house had been quarantined, and after scarping into her savings, she hired a medical nin to stay with her Ko’s as she could not properly care for them. The medical nin had told her whatever they had was undocumented and unknown to him. It resembled a simply fever in many ways but showed signs of something much worse.

“Their vaccinations are on record, I just can’t understand why they ended up with this.” The medical nin greeted Joben as she carried a tray of waters, rice for Kouki, and rice with honey for Koichi. “The lab results came back. It’s tuberculosis.”

Joben did everything in her power not to lose feeling in her legs or drop the tray.

“I’ve sent for antibiotics, but it’s…” He hesitated, looking up at Joben apologetically. Joben stared down at him. For a painful moment, she blamed him. “It’ll be six months of antibiotics, near constant care for your young one. I can’t say this looks good, but there are treatments. Even if it’s drug-resistant, there are plenty of treatments. You’ll need to be tested as well, Akagi.”

“That’s fine, just,” Joben sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Let me see them.”

“I’m afraid I must advise against that.” He tried, but when he met her eyes, he flinched and backed up into the latched door, body beginning to tremble as a very tangible feeling emanated from the tall woman. He felt like any second she would snap and murder him in only the most horrendous ways imaginable.

Joben narrowed her eyes as he side stepped her path. She wiped her sweating palms on her pants before opening the door and smiling brightly. Kouki was lying in the bed, holding Koichi closely as he shivered and wept lightly. She stroked his hair and sang to him tiny songs, songs that were no longer than haikus, but were so gentle, so docile, that they were able to lull the boy.

Yellow met blue and Kouki smiled as well as she could muster. The tuberculosis moved faster than anything on record, and after only three days, both of them were incredibly weak and Koichi was hooked up to an oxygen tank that fed him his breath. The light hum of it met Joben’s ears but she maintained her smile.

“There are my two favorite people!” She said in a more quiet voice as Kouki seemingly maintained a migraine now. She brought them the tray. “Let’s try to eat now.” She sat on the other side of Koichi, but she was cross-legged while they laid back against the head board, Koichi sitting on his mother’s lap and curling up at her bosom like an infant once more. He only did that after the more frightening dreams. “Honey rice for my honey.” Joben sang quietly as Koichi eagerly reached out for the bowl.

He smiled as he began eating, but Kouki made a less than happy face as she forced herself to eat, despite the way her arms did not want to move. Joben eyed her slow movements for a moment before taking the spoon from her hand and scooping up rice.   
  
“Feeding me?” Kouki chuckled. “I am perfectly capable of eating normally.”

“But this shows how much I love you.” Joben nodded fiercely, blushing vividly and looking more excited than she should. “Open wide!” She smiled boyishly as she carefully fed Kouki.

“Feed me too!” Koichi demanded, holding his mouth open like a baby bird. Joben snorted at the hilarious image, but carefully picked up his spoon with her left hand, balancing the rice shakily. She was not talented with her left hand in the slightest. It was a disadvantage in battle, and everyday life. She was totally useless with it.

Once the two were done eating, Joben finally stopped giggling like an amused child and prompted them to take their medicine. It wasn’t proper treatment, but it should help with the fevers and the pain, just like Kabuto had said. Even if he was standoffish he knew quite a bit about pharmaceuticals and was as kind hearted as they came.

Joben had left the two to sleep and returned to her and Kouki’s bedroom. The frown on her face persisted through her evening routine and she found herself unable to eat. Kouki had insisted on sleeping with Koichi, unable to part from him. She also insisted that Joben not get herself sick by sleeping with them. Her eyes opened as the water dripped down her hair and face. Her limbs felt heavy with leaden sorrow.

Kouki and Koichi was all she ever wanted. She centered her entire life around those two and their happiness. An unsteady hand found the faucet and shut off the water shakily. Joben couldn’t lose them. She couldn’t.

* * *

 

“Please, grant me access to your libraries!” Joben bowed so deeply she was completely parallel with the floor.

Mikoto looked up at Fugaku warily.

“Why?” He asked, completely unfazed by Joben’s oddly formal behavior. “What business could you possibly have in the Uchiha library?”

“I-I need to know about y-your physiologies. Please, I need to know if th-there’s anything I can do—please, my wife—my son!” Joben choked.

Mikoto’s brow knit now as her fellow jonin sobbed so openly in front of them. It was an emotional display an Uchiha would never dare commit. Fugaku wilted a bit and looked away.

“The Uchiha’s resilliance to disease and infection are hereditary.” Fugaku said evenly. Joben winced but stood up and nodded, before bowing lightly again.

“I-I see, thank you anyway—“

Just like that, she was gone, though as she had escaped the compound unnoticed but the other Uchiha guards, she sifted through her pocket for her list. The only other two names were the Akimichi and the Uzumaki. Uzumaki had only one remaining member with likely no records or secrets of his clan. The Akimichi would never tell her their clan’s technique for revitalizing after getting sick. Joben stared blankly at the paper.

“Ah. Hello, Itachi.” Joben spoke up, voice still strained, eyes a puffy red.

“Akagi Joben.” He bowed lightly, removing his Anbu mask. He stood a bit closer than she was entirely comfortable with. “My condolences.”

Joben eyed the adolescent boy for a moment, trying to figure him out. She returned to her jovial nature and waved a hand dismissively. She pulled a few photos from her flak jacket and practically shoved them in his face. “They’re doing just fine!” She chirped. “See? This is a photo taken yesterday! Look at ‘Chi’s happy little face.”

“He’s growing up quickly.” Itachi smiled politely, something expected of him. Joben sighed.

“When did _you_ grow up so quickly? I didn’t get to see you as a runt, but you’ve changed so much over these past two years. Why?” Joben asked, looking at him seriously once again. Though her look resembled more that of a concerned mother. It caused him to falter. She had a certain look about her that made him uncomfortable with his own knowledge.

“I grew up so that I could protect Sasuke.” He blurted evenly, surprised he even said that instead of simply giving a vague or roundabout answer like he would normally do.

“Ah, Sasuke’s the same age as ‘Chi!” Joben suddenly remembered. “Do you have any pictures?”

Itachi gave her a neutral, assessing look before he glanced around. For such a stoic person, capable of stealth that she could only dream of, he was not very sly about tugging a small leather pouch full of photos from his vest. He handed her the collection and blushed lightly when she gaped in adoring awe.

“He’s adorable!” Joben exclaimed, gesturing widely. “Say, he and ‘Chi should have a playdate! It can be at my own home—I know the Uchiha currently have some things going on.”

Itachi flinched inwardly as the visage of Madara flashed in his mind. His eyes went wide as he stared at Joben.

“Yes, I agree.” He nodded lightly. “Though you will have to send an invitation. The Uchiha are very… traditional.” His voice tensed and he decided he was far too emotional to continue the interaction. She handed him the photos back. “Goodbye, Joben.” He waved as he vanished from view.

Her joviality faded quickly and she found herself staring blankly up at the visage of the First Hokage as his stone eyes overlooked and watched the village protectively. She wondered if the Senju had any sort of healing capabilities. Then again, who could heal a deliberate attack?

Her mind grew darker with each passing second. With not a single other reported case of tuberculosis in the entirety of Konoha, it was impossible for Kouki to have picked it up by accident. Mentally, listing each of her enemies, she let her eyes fall to the ground.

* * *

 

“Don’t let him die in the hospital, Joben.” Kouki whispered. “It’s such a terrible place.” Her eyes fell to the large machine she was wired to, then the nurse attendant.

“I won’t.” Joben promised solemnly. “Hey, ‘Ki.”

“Hm?” She closed her eyes serenely as her pain flooded out of her system. The nurse carefully hung the bag feeding into the IV and checked her vitals one more time before walking away.

“Do you remember our wedding?” Joben whispered, crawling onto the bed as Kouki shifted to the side. Joben drape a lanky arm across her wife’s shoulders and buried her nose in her long, fluffy locks of her curly blonde hair. Joben shut her eyes, listening to her heart beat, with her ear against the warm skin of her chest.   
  
“I remember you crying like a baby.” Kouki chuckled. From where Joben was sitting, it sounded deeper than it actually was, more comforting. She gripped onto her wife a bit tighter. Joben’s eyes threatened the same wetness they held that day, though for an entirely different reason. “I remember Inoichi holding baby Ino.” She sighed happily. “My niece was so cute.”

“She cried through the whole thing.” Joben giggled. Kouki had buried a hand in her long brown hair and was idly playing with it.

“So did you.” Kouki reminded her coyly. Joben painfully noticed her voice was gradually growing weaker. “The noise you made when you first saw me.” Kouki blushed and looked down at Joben.

“You are gorgeous always, but you were especially radiant in your mother’s kimono, hair pinned out of your face.” Joben smiled widely.

“I still can’t believe you wore your hitai-ate.” Kouki grimaced and made a noise of disapproval, though the gesture was touching. “And armor.”

“Heh.” Joben smirked mirthfully. “You loved it.”

“No, but I love you.” Kouki kissed the top of her head gently and snuck something into her hand. Joben’s eyes widened a fraction as she enclosed her fist around what felt like a small vial. Joben shot up when she realized Kouki’s heart beat was slowing. Kouki smiled so warmly, a contrast to her cooling form as her blood circulated slower with the heart’s languid beats. The instructions were clear. “Say, Joben.”

“What is it?” Joben gripped both of her hands tightly and held her eye contact like it was her own life line. She felt her own hands shaking. Her vision blurred. Her ears were ringing. Kouki mouthed something to her and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against her wife’s for a long moment.

As she stilled, the pressure increased as Kouki slumped against her.

Joben wrapped her arms around her and held her up against her. She positioned Kouki’s arms at her waist and she gripped onto her as tightly as she could. Nurses rushed in and pried Kouki from her. Joben stared in disbelief, unable to quite process it. They tried their best, she knew.

They tried resuscitating her. They tried healing chakra. They tried a massive shot of adrenaline. They tried electricity. Joben stood at the foot of the bed, staring at Kouki. Her eyes were open, looking up at something she couldn’t see. It wasn’t a serene expression. It wasn’t reassuring. It hurt. It hurt so much.  
  
The nurses were talking to her, but she couldn’t hear them. She could only hear the shouts and cries of a battlefield. The nurses weren’t there.

She wasn’t kneeling next to Kouki. She was looking down at her teammate in her arms.

She blinked and looked at Kouki, slipping the vial in her pocket and grabbing her hand. She held it gently, admiring the way Kouki had prepared her nails for such an occasion. She looked up at the door way. A tall figure with blonde hair and wide, horror stricken blue eyes. Who was he?

“Kouki!” Inoichi screamed, rushing over to his sister’s other side and grabbing her shoulders before he hugged her tightly. He looked up at Joben sorrowfully and she belatedly realized she’d never seen his expression be anything but serious. Tears streamed down his cheeks, unbidden.

“I couldn’t save her.” Joben whispered.

She should have been able to. She was a special jonin, the level of many Anbu. She was strong, knew many deadly jutsu, knew many powerful allies. Joben’s eyes darkened as she looked down.

“I couldn’t save her.” She repeated as she knelt by Kouki’s side and bowed her head. “Kouki…” She whispered her name like a prayer to a long forgotten god.

Inoichi didn’t reply to the ex-Kiri nin. He sobbed, clinging onto Kouki tightly.

“She’s been poisoned. Get out.” His voice cracked and Joben gave another look to Kouki as she complied. He needed his time with her, and she needed to see her son. Joben wiped the tears from her face and took a few deep breaths. It still hadn’t quite hit her yet.

“Mama!” Koichi waved happily from his bed. He had been lonely, but she finally came. “Can I go see mommy now?”

“Yes. We’re going to go see her. You have to close your eyes.” Joben smiled. Koichi’s grin cracked even wider and he nodded before covering his eyes, not daring to peak. She watched for a moment as she cast a genjutsu over the room, ensuring they wouldn’t be spotted leaving. She looked down at the syringe in her hand and she carefully filled it with the numbing poison. Her hands shook. “Medicine first. This is going to pinch. Be a big boy, just one more time.” She urged and stuck him. He twitched and whined but didn’t stop her.

Since his eyes were covered, he missed the way Joben’s face contorted with the terror of what she had just done. It would be a much quicker, much easier death than slowly drowning, isolated in a tiny hospital room with only a window and his machines.

“Alright, you can open your eyes, ‘Chi!” Joben announced, smiling as widely as she could manage. “Let’s get you out of bed.”

“Yay! Where is mommy?” Koichi cheered, though his hands were shaky and cold.

“Hmmm… where do you think she is?” Joben asked.

“I think she’s at—oh! I bet she’s at that huge field of flowers!” Koichi gasped. “We really liked that place! We go there when we miss you!”

Joben’s heart broke as she lifted her son from the stiff bedsheets. She smiled and kissed his forehead as he giggled and curled up against his mother. She opened the window and darted out an speed she hadn’t achieved since she was sent chasing after Kouki when Hunter nin took her in for questioning. The dark thought haunted her. Kouki had deserved a better life than she was able to provide. So did Koichi. She looked down at the boy

He happily held his arms up, enjoying the wind on his face. She smiled genuinely. The sun was setting and cast orange and pink hues over the vast expanse above them.

“We’re here!” Joben announced. Koichi’s tiny pulse had grown smaller. She found a particularly lush patch of clovers and laid him down, so he could watch the clouds dance around in the breeze.

“I bet she’ll be here soon.” Koichi’s voice grew smaller but he didn’t let it bother him. “Do you think she’ll bring sweets?”

“I know she will. What kind of sweets do you want?” Joben pulled her son into her lap.

“I want…” Koichi paused to take a breath. It was becoming harder. His little brow knit a little before relaxing. “Mama, look. Mommy’s here.” He whispered. Joben’s eyes widened and she held him tighter despite the way he was leaving her with each moment. He opened his mouth to speak. It was settled in a smile. Joben took his tiny hand in her much larger one and kissed it before carefully closing her eyes.

This time she screamed. She screamed, she wailed, she sobbed the way no shinobi in an open field should. She rocked back and forth, cradling Koichi as closely as she could. She screamed her lamentations to the sky, to the crickets in the tall grass. Joben’s sobs stopped abruptly as she realized someone was watching. A three man team of Anbu. A Cat, a dog, a weasel.   
  
“He’s gone, Kakashi…” She managed weakly, turning to look at them.

Kakashi openly flinched. He had never seen such a powerful person become so consumed with unbridled agony.

“He’s gone.” Her voice was high and desperate as she buried her face in her son’s cold chest, the fabric of his shirt brushing her skin unpleasantly between her and the now chilled body. “Kouki couldn’t be parted from him.” She laughed a bit, despite the circumstances. Hysteria had its way with her. “She had to take him with her, right?”

The weasel approached when neither of the others were able. Itachi knelt down and tried to take the boy’s body from his mother’s grip. Joben’s instincts took over and she had a knife in Itachi’s shoulder before either of them knew what was happening. Joben gasped.

“O-Oh god—I’m sorry—I’m so sorry!” She sputtered, gripping Koichi a bit more securely.

“We got word you two disappeared from the hospital.” Itachi explained.

“I couldn’t let him die there.” Joben squeaked, looking down at Koichi’s slack face. “Kouki didn’t want him to die there.”

Itachi bristled a bit. He understood such a notion.

“Come.” Itachi said gently. “Let’s get you some place warmer.”

“I can’t go home.” Joben shook her head. “Not back to that place—not when she won’t be there.”

“My apartment has a couch.” Kakashi spoke up.

“No, unfortunately it will have to be the Police Station.” Itachi said after recognizing a certain tint of the skin that hinted at poison. Kakashi narrowed his eyes before understanding. “Please hand me Koichi.”

Joben looked at him with horror but realized she didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t sure how he wasn’t reacting to his stab wound but complied. She looked away guiltily as the limp body of her entire universe left the safety of her chest. Another sob escaped her and she covered her face.

Her world went cold. Her smile disappeared. Her shoulders slumped.

Fugaku didn’t rightfully recognize her. Each of her short answers were nearly whispered, but he wanted to be the one to process her, as a suspect of course. Despite Inoichi’s statement that it was very like Kouki that took their lives, he needed to investigate before any conclusion could be reached.

There was a cat at the door.

“The Hokage has put her on indefinite leave until she chooses to return to work.” Tenzo said with a light bow in the direction of Fugaku. “She is to be released from custody immediately.”

“Understood. Thank you.” Fugaku said politely, though he was glaring. Someone had no doubt pardoned her whether she was guilty or not. Though the pardon made it seem like she was.

Joben stared at them before getting up and leaving without a word.

“Kouki…” She prayed. “Kouki.”

Of course, there was no answer.

It was well past dark, and the few people who wandered the streets didn’t approach her. This wasn’t her village after all. She looked up to the cliffside with the Hokages’ visages. This was her home, but these people weren’t her family. These people were barely her allies. She needed to leave. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she would return one day. She didn’t even take her field bag. She simply left.

“Where are you going?” Kotetsu spoke up. “You aren’t defecting are you, Joben?”

“I’m not defecting. I’m not on duty. I’ve been suspended. I’m going on vacation.” Joben said honestly, staring at the gate.

“When will you be back?” Izumo tilted his head.

Joben forced a smile at them and waved lightly. She didn’t walk. She sprinted. She couldn’t stand the stifling air. Without Kouki, she didn’t want to be there anymore. Without Koichi, she couldn’t.

She was already a couple of klicks from the village when she stopped. That same chakra that had tagged her was sizzling the air.

“What the fuck did you do to them?!” She screamed, bracing herself against a tree in her second bout of hysteria. “Who the fuck are you?!”

Rage built up inside of her as she followed the feeling of the chakra. She darted after it. She was by no means a good sensor, but she was adequate enough to follow whoever it was that was ruining her life. It had to be the nin that tagged her that infected her wife and son. She would kill them. She would drag their death out as slowly as possible and—her breath caught in her throat as she continued to choke her sobs down.

She wasn’t sure how long she was running, but she knew she was over exerting herself.

As the sun peered over the horizon, she saw where the nin was leading her. She halted as her eyes took in the Valley of the End. There, on the bank of the river flowing from a waterfall, a crumpled form. Her body froze for a long moment. It couldn’t be. There was a child lying there, looking dead or halfway there.

She felt cold, she felt cold and isolated. The pain in her chest had not stopped and the world around her was darkening in her mind, even as the sun rose. She felt as though she was entirely alone. The feeling overtook her.


	3. Chapter 3

  
“Hey, kid.” Joben barked, wiping the tears from her face and nudging the small form with her foot. The child had a wild mane of short black hair and paper white skin. He also appeared to be wearing some sort of traditional yukata. Her brow knit and she looked around before kneeling beside him. “Kid, wake up.”

There was a quiet, annoyed groan before he shot up and upon seeing Joben, immediately lunged at her.

“What the fuck—“ Joben shot back, smacking the kid off of her and stumbling back. “Kid, what the hell’s wrong with you?!” She growled.

“What did you do—“ Madara shouted, then covered his mouth. That wasn’t his voice. It was much higher, much more childish. He jolted and looked at his hands, narrowing his eyes before looking back at who he thought was Hashirama. “What did you do? And why do you look at that?”

“That’s extremely rude.” Joben put her hands on her hips and glared at the child. “Where are your parents?”

“Why do you _sound_ like that—…” Madara stopped and stared at her chest for a long moment. “Why are you a _woman?”_

“Ah.” Joben sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, before scrubbing her face with her hands, in a futile attempt to get the angry frown off of her face. “You’re confusing me for someone else.”

As she looked back at him he was signing something and before she knew it, a large (large for a child’s jutsu) ball of fire shot at her. Joben was quick to use her own wind jutsu to blow it away.

“I’ll repeat myself, Senju. What did you do?” He hissed. “Why am I small?”

“Senju?” Joben’s face twisted with confusion. She walked over to the small boy and he tried to dart away but he was much slower than he would have preferred. She picked him up under the arms and held him up, looking him over for any obvious injury.

“Put me down!” He kicked.

“Where are your parents? It’s dangerous out here. There was an enormous chakra signature.” Joben chastised, not at all affected by his feeble attack

Madara sighed, putting a hand over his eyes. An oddly grown up gesture for such a tiny boy. He peaked at her from behind his fingers before his eyes widened. She stared at him blankly. They closed and widened again. She stayed still but gave a bemused smirk. “Are you trying to use a some sort of kekkei genkai?” She chuckled, causing him to reach and bite down hard on her hand.

Madara yelped in pain and brought a hand up to his mouth. He looked down to the wooden fingers and glared at the woman once more.

“State your name, Senju. And unhand me. I’ll have you killed for this transgression.” He said regally. Hashirama must have somehow shot him back in time. It was the only explanation for him being a child. It made sense. Tobirama was almost constantly inventing time-space jutsus. Though the way the Senju was dressed suggested otherwise.

“Joben Akagi… or Joben Senju. I don’t know if I’ll change my name.” She shrugged and slowly put the boy down. He glowered at how tall she was. Damn Senjus _and_ their height. “What’s yours?”

“Madara Uchiha.” He said proudly, raising his chin.

Joben rose a brow and scratched her cheek.

“So, are you one of Fugaku’s boys?” She asked idly, not recognizing the name in the slightest.

He narrowed his eyes. “No.” He looked away from her to gauge their surroundings. His eyes widened and he staggered when he turned around to see the two great carvings of his last battle with he and Hashirama. His feet failed him and he fell. Joben caught him deftly and this time put him on her shoulders, just as she would have done Koichi. He was most certainly not in the past in terms of the time of his childhood.

“Well, guess who you’re going to see.” Joben huffed and grabbed his knees to prevent him from kicking her in the face.

“You’re taking me to the Uchiha compound?” He asked, then hesitated. He needed to find out what point in time he was in. “Who is the Hokage?”

“Hiruzen Sarutobi.” She said and snorted. “Crazy kid.” She paused a moment, looking for that chakra signature. There was nothing but a faint one next to her, no doubt belonging to the child.

“That doesn’t tell me much.” Madara bit out harshly, tugging a bit of her brown hair. She looked just like Hashirama, but her eye lashes were a little shorter and she had breasts that he was almost certain Hashirama didn’t have.

“That hurts, you little fucker.” Joben hissed, reaching up and smacking him on the head.

“Don’t hit a child.” Madara chided.

“You’re not _my_ child.” Joben elaborated and smacked him again, though much more lightly. “Don’t pull me hair. Took me years to grow it.”

“You Senjus grow hair quickly so quit complaining.” Madara said, an air of superiority surrounding the words.

“This is gonna be a long walk back to Konoha.” Joben sighed. “How do you know so much about the Senju clan?”

Madara stared off into the distance, crossing his arms and setting them on the top of her head. He needed to think of a plan. He was without his sharingan, in a small, weak body and currently being hefted around by a Senju that he could only assume was disgraced or something like that, given that she didn't know much about her own clan, and seemed to not recognize his name.

“My childhood best friend was a Senju.” He said honestly. It was the best answer he could think of.

“Oh? I didn’t grow up as one. I’m an Akagi by name.” She informed him. “Though now I suppose my father took my mothers name…”

“Akagi clan?” Madara asked incredulously. A clan of servants. He scoffed. “An Akagi had the gall to approach a Senju in a romantic sense and marry them? Disgusting.”

“Love is beautiful, you shriveled old man of a child.” Joben chastised and pinched his knee.

“I thought the Akagi had long been chased from Konoha.” Madara prompted.

“Alright, you clearly know something I don’t. What’s the issue?” Joben asked.

“Each noble clan has a lesser clan act as servants. The Akagi are to the Senju. Though after the first Shinobi War, many of the Akagi betrayed their masters. They were exiled in their entirety.”

“You remember it, right?” Joben asked dryly. She didn’t have the energy to smile.

“No, I just have the ability to pay attention when someone tells me something.” He huffed.

“You’re a rude child. I ought to talk with your parents.” Joben threatened. Usually that scared kids.

“They’re dead.” Madara said bluntly. Joben paused. Her gut twisted as she thought of her wife and son. Funny how quickly the thought brought her down. She pushed it aside.

“My condolences. That doesn’t excuse your shitty attitude.” Joben hummed.

“Senju, don’t speak condescendingly towards me.” Madara warned.

“I should have left you in the Valley of the End.” Joben sighed and paused when she felt two chakra signatures.

Two Anbu she didn’t recognize jumped in front of her, swords drawn. Joben’s eyes widened as she removed Madara from her shoulders and instead cradled the small boy closer to her chest. Not only were they appearing ready to attack, but they lacked the tattoo that all Anbu had. They must have been two of Danzo's.

“We have been sent to retrieve you.” One said.

“I’m coming back. I’m headed back now.” Joben looked around. There was no need to send Anbu for her. She hesitated once more. She felt Madara shift in her arms until he pulled a kunai from her pocket to defend himself with. She looked down at him with confusion in her eyes.

“They aren’t Anbu you know. They work for Danzo.” Madara confirmed in a whisper. Joben wondered how he would even know that, but for the sake of keeping face, she pretended that she didn't realize.

The two of them made no reaction, but Joben did.

“Danzo?! I only met him once, but holy shit—what an asshole! What’s he have to do with this?” Joben hissed. She didn’t like that man.

“We must ask that you come with us peacefully, but we are prepared to eliminate you, if need be. Give Boar the boy, and come with us.” The one with a bird mask requested.

“Like hell.” She gripped a bit tighter onto Madara. He winced. It seems his pain tolerance was not built up as a child. He narrowed his eyes in the direction of the Anbu. He didn’t recognize him. Perhaps this was some sort of future. “I’m taking him straight to Fugaku.” Joben warned, pulling something out of her jacket. It was the size of a scroll, but as she forced her chakra into it, the wooden peg grew to a little more than her own height. She held the spear in a warning manner.

She pointed one end, capped with iron at Bird. “And you’re welcome to flank me, but I’ll be delivering this Uchiha to the Uchiha clan.”

They exchanged looks before they lunged. Joben cursed and countered a thrust of the sword with her own weapon. Fighting one handed wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Just as one got close, Madara pushed off of her chest. She gasped audibly as he clung to the quickly falling Anbu.

Joben stared as the small boy, no older than four at most. He withdrew the kunai from the broken mask that had blood seeping from the cracks in the white porcelain.

“Behind you.” Madara said, not at all fazed by the life he just took. Joben jerked around and ducked just in time to avoid a sword skewering her head. Joben twisted for a moment, signing as the earth beneath the Anbu opened up and swallowed them before slamming shut. The whitish brown dirt slowly became a dark red mud. Joben turned back to see Madara staring at her.

  
“Where did you learn that?” He demanded, tiny voice tinted with an edge of annoyance. Hashirama had used that exact just to take out most of his men one in a skirmish. 

“My father.” She said, crossing her arms. “You’re a rude little boy, aren’t you? And what made you think it was okay to kill that person? You’re probably three.” She held up three fingers to him angrily. He growled.

“I’m older than you are!” He squeaked, stomping his foot in a childish manner he never would have done had he been an adult.

“Pffft! Sure!” Joben cracked and scooped him up again, this time, hoisting him to sit on one shoulder as she secured an arm around his legs like an iron band. He rested one arm on the top of her head and let himself be carried. Pride aside, he knew his little legs wouldn’t carry him as quickly as he liked, and the tree of a woman who carried him was probably the tallest person he encountered since Hashirama himself.

“We’re taking you to the Hokage first, then Fugaku,” Joben informed the child.

“Fugaku first, then the Hokage.” He countered. Joben groaned loudly.

“Are you going to tell me who your parents are now?” Joben asked.

“They’re dead, no doubt. Just return me to the Uchiha compound.” He bit out. The woman carrying him seemed to flinch at his blunt words. She spaced out for a moment, sick to her stomach at the thought of returning to Kouki’s village. She reached up and touched her headband, feeling the Konoha symbol etched into it. Joben grimaced, causing Madara to lean over, curiously staring at her. “So, you hate Konoha?” He asked carefully. Perhaps he could use her.

“I don't hate it.” Joben mended, schooling her expression once more. Her sensei would have laughed at her lack of control over her emotions. “I just… I just lost everything there. I loved it like my own home, but home was taken from me.”

“Taken from you?” Madara narrowed his eyes, pressing for details. Perhaps he could gain some knowledge of what point in time it was.

“My wife and my son both fell ill.” Joben said quietly, looking up at the boy. He looked like the polar opposite of her sun and stars. Her eyes darkened and she stared ahead. “Oh shit. I have hell to face when we get back.” She groaned, remembering Inoichi. She’d never get to see her darling niece again. He would blame her for the death of his sister.

At the police station, though the memory was a blur, some Anbu in a cat mask had mentioned that Hiruzen sent for her release. Did that mean they suspected her?

“That doesn’t sound like the entire story.” Madara hummed, glancing down at her brown hair reminiscently. She truly was a Senju, though lucky for her, she was one of the lucky few that didn’t inherit that mean scowl Tobirama had. Other than the despair etched in her features, she had a friendly face that probably made it easier for enemies to underestimate her. He imagined that it could be a huge benefit, if used correctly.

“Someone infected them with tuberculosis.” Joben clarified after finding her voice again.

“Hn.” Madara narrowed his eyes. Someone had killed them? Taking a careful note of it, he looked past the horizon. He knew they were nearing the village. He let the conversation fall, something Joben was thankful for.

This child was odd, to say the very least. He sounded old, much older than a four-year-old had the right to be. She wondered what Fugaku would do with him. He was certainly an Uchiha. If the black hair and black eyes weren’t a dead giveaway, his downright _snarky_ attitude certainly was. She sighed, arm beginning to get tired. Still, she wouldn’t make him walk and she didn’t want to cradle him. She tilted her head and watched the clouds overhead as she walked.

“A ninja shouldn’t daze.” Madara chided. “Have you no sense of self-preservation? Or at least maternal instinct? Your incompetence could get me killed. Be on guard, Senju.”

“ _Joben._ ” She corrected in such an angry tone that Madara actually flinched, which surprised him. She sucked breath in through her teeth. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you, dear. You’ve probably had a shitty day.”

Madara’s big black eyes were wide with confusion. Why did he jump? He looked down at his scraped up knees, then at his scuffed up sandals. Was it because he was a child again? He determined that to be the cause, rather than any genuine fear of the woman. He patted her head lightly, an adorably condescending action. “I forgive you and won’t retaliate.” He said in good nature. He was feeling rather merciful.

Then Joben snorted a rather unfeminine laugh. “Precious.” She grinned a little, though it fell away eventually and her eyes were lonely again. Madara grimaced. He lacked the authority he had as an adult. She thought he was joking. He sighed with great exaggeration and leaned against her head. He was exhausted. Such a tiny body had less stamina than his other did.

She caught him when he slipped from her shoulder, dead asleep. She smiled a little. He had looked nothing like Koichi when he was awake and glaring at her, but when he was enraptured with slumber, he had that same sort of innocent serenity. Joben found that she had the strong urge to protect it. She hesitated as she cradled him, stopping in her tracks as she looked down at the child sadly.

Tears returned to her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. She instinctively held the child close as she walked on, wondering by what fucked up fate determined them to meet. She wanted to know how they were connected, and why that same chakra surrounded him. Still, the child needed to be taken care of before she could investigate.

Hours passed until eventually she was standing in front of the gate again, legs feeling heavier than ever before. Between exhaustion and emotional strain, she felt entirely unprepared to enter Konoha once again. Kotetsu watched her.

“That was a short vacation. What’ve you got there?” He asked.

“Why are you carrying a child?” Izumo asked.

“I found him at Valley of the End. I’m bringing him to the Hokage. He was passed out with no one around. Says his parents are dead. Says he’s an Uchiha.” She gave the quick version and nodded in their direction as she walked through the gates, treading through the village once more.

The Hokage wasn’t yet in, no doubt meeting with the Council, over whether to keep her or not. Joben eyed the still sleeping boy, beginning to worry about his health. She was by no means a medical nin, but it didn’t seem right for him to sleep through all of that. Then again, if he was as tired as she was, it made sense.

She sat down in the lobby, still holding Madara carefully, though a bit stiffly as thoughts of her passed on son haunted her mind. She spared a glance around the room, only to see Koichi’s friend sitting in a chair, crying his eyes out. Joben stared for a moment, voice caught in her throat.

“Naruto? Are you alright, dear?” She asked.

The tiny blonde boy uncovered his eyes. Tears were streaming down his face, his nose was running and his cheeks were red.

“Tha’ damn lady at the home kicked me out!” He squeaked and ran over to her, hugging her shin as he was about the same height as it. Joben’s hand hovered in the air for a moment before she patted his hair lightly. He looked at her, eyes red and puffy. “They wouldn’t let me visit ‘Ichi, so after I snuck ou’ they wouldn’t let me back in! An' 'Ichi wasn't even at the hospi'al!” He confessed. Joben flinched at the mention of her child’s nickname and looked away for a moment, before carefully adjusting Madara. She opened her arm and Naruto seemed confused.

She stared at him. _Surely he’d been hugged before._ Horror took over her features as she realized he might not have remembered his late parents' embrace, so she leaned down as best she could and very gently embraced Naruto. He grew rigid but eventually relaxed and clung to her tightly. Madara stirred a bit, but readjusted so he was leaning against her shoulder and fell back asleep.

“Is ‘Ichi okay?” Naruto asked. “They sai’ he ain’t at the hospital no more.”

Joben’s eyes hollowed a bit as she looked away.

“’Ichi and his Mama aren’t in the village anymore.” She whispered, not able to lie to him, but not able to tell him the truth. Naruto began crying again.

“Now I don’ got any friends!” He exclaimed, burying his face against her arm, tiny fingers digging into her sleeves as he held on for dear life.

“I’ll be your friend, Naruto.” Joben forced a smile. That seemed to help, as Naruto stopped crying for a moment and blinked up at her with big blue eyes, like a clear sky. Joben felt her heart melt. Those big blue eyes got to her. She now had a new topic to bring up with the Hokage. A new reason to _stay._

The full atrocity the village was committing against this boy, _against her_ , sunk in. She wouldn’t let him be treated the way he was any longer. Resolve found her and she smiled for real. She patted his head lightly and he looked up at her again.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, Naruto. I’ll take care of it.” She said. I’ll take care of you. Kouki would’ve agreed with it, even if she was frightened of what was inside of him. Joben kissed the top of his head the way she once did for Koichi.

“The Hokage is holding audience now, Naruto. What did you need?” A chunin secretary was suddenly in the door way, eyeing the way Joben interacted with him in such an affectionate, almost motherly manner.

“I don’ need to see ‘im anymore!” Naruto announced, holding onto Joben’s hand tightly. Joben smiled lightly, this time genuinely. He was so innocent, so trusting. She would protect that.

It was a moment’s decision, but she knew it was the right one.

“Oh, well, then…” The man stammered. “Akagi Joben, you’re next.” Joben stood up, still holding Madara, though only with one arm. He slumped against her shoulder, snoring loudly. Spirits lifted, Joben smiled widely at the chunin and followed him to the Hokage’s office.

Hiruzen sat surrounded by council members. They were all looking at her. Dread settled in her stomach. She looked between them, eyes lingering in Danzo’s stare for a moment before she placed one hand on Madara’s back to hold him and she bowed deeply, making sure the small Uchiha didn’t fall from her grasp. He rustled again in his sleep.

“Thank you for seeing me, Lord Hokage.” She said, voice even and powered by her new reason for going on. “I encountered this Uchiha boy at Valley of the End. I did not know what to do, so I came to see you first.”

Hiruzen stared at the slumped boy with wide eyes, then looked to Danzo. If she was correct, she saw fear in Danzo’s now fully opened eye.

“I see.” Hiruzen said after taking a long drag from his pipe. “What will you do?”

“I will take him to Fugaku as soon as I part from here.” Joben stood up straight, resettling him into a more comfortable position that wouldn’t cause his neck to ache. So much for self-preservation, she thought. What a tiny hypocrite.

“Very well. Is that all?” Hiruzen asked, knowingly. “You seem suspiciously well, considering your loss.”

“There was a bright little boy in the lobby who cheered me up.” Joben smiled sadly. “And I hear he has come upon hard times. If it is granted, I would like permission to adopt Uzumaki Naruto.”

Hiruzen’s pipe hit the floor and the council woman scoffed in disdain. The Hokage stared at her, and immediately Joben’s smile dropped and she stared back with unbidden confusion and apprehension. There was an incredibly long silence.

  
It made political sense. Having Naruto in a domestic setting would assuage the fears of the civilians, and having Joben tied to the village once more would assuage his own fears of her defection or worse, betrayal. He didn’t look at the council, or even consider debating with them about this.

“I permit it.” He said, voice steady as he bowed his head. Joben went rigid at the sign of respect. “Thank you, Akagi Joben.”

“A-Ah.” Joben scratched her cheek, looking away, red in the cheeks with embarrassment. She didn’t know how to respond. “So then, do I just…”

“I’ll have the paperwork delievered, but as far as I’m concerned, from this moment on, you’re his legal guardian.”

“Hiruzen.” Danzo hissed. “We should discuss this.”

“No, this is a win-win situation. I will not waiver on this.” Hiruzen asserted, causing Joben to sway a bit. His determined eyes turned to Joben. “You’re dismissed.”

“Th-Thank you, Lord Hokage!!” She squeaked, darting out of the room. The sudden movement caused the Anbu guards to tense, but they returned to their proper posture when she left. She ran back to the lobby where Naruto was waiting for her. “Naruto, how would you like to have a really long sleep over?!” She asked, excitedly, causing Madara to stir in her arm. He grumbled, burying his grumpy face in her flak jacket.

“I’d love tha’ ‘attebayo!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Good! Come with me.” Joben smiled widely, pointing to herself. “We need to run an errand, would you like to come with me?”

Naruto was used to roaming the streets alone, so the chance to go with someone to do something seemed like more than he could hope for. “Yeah!” He managed, grabbing a small bag, containing all of his possessions. “Can you carry me, too?!” He asked.

“Sure!”

“ **Quiet down** , Senju.” Madara growled.

As if noticing him for the first time, Naruto looked to the small Uchiha. He cocked his head in an oddly vulpine action. The irony made Joben giggle.

Madara cracked and eye open and glared at Naruto before he sat up, staring down at the Jinchuriki with wide black eyes. His mouth hung open for a moment, causing Joben to raise a brow.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing.” He lied under his breath, staring still. So that’s what time he was in. He inclined his head. Only a few years before the Uchiha Massacre. He wondered if it would still happen, if he could _make_ it happen still. He’d likely have influence with Danzo, though not as much as—“Why are you putting me down? Pick me back up.” He demanded.

Joben snorted.

“It’s Naruto’s turn. You’ve been sleeping, you need to get all woken up before you meet with your clan leader.” She informed him, bending over to pick up Naruto, who held his arms up eagerly. Madara glared at her as if he was trying to use his sharingan he apparently thought he had. Joben snorted.

“I _hate_ that laugh. Stop laughing like that.” Madara commanded.

“Don’ you talk to her like tha’!” Naruto frowned, pointing a finger at him.

“Mind your tongue, boy.” Madara warned.

“Stop.” Joben spoke sternly. Madara made a face between confusion, fear, defeat, and anger as he pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “You need to be kinder. You’ll never have any friends if you aren’t kind.”

“I don’t need friends.” Madara told her. “Now take me to Fugaku, Senju.”

“ _Joben._ ” She corrected again.

“Woah, your name is Joben?! I thought it was ‘Mom’!” Naruto barked. Joben laughed. “Hey, why’re you laughin’ at me?!”

“I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with you.” Joben encouraged, nudging Naruto lightly as she adjusted where he sat so that his knees weren’t digging into her ribs. She decided to put him up on her shoulders.

“I’m up so high!” He squeaked, pressing his palm against the ceiling and giggling. The sound made Joben pause, but she smiled. Madara glowered up at the both of them. Joben offered her hand for the tiny Uchiha to hold.

The sight of this Hashirama-knock off holding her hand out for him to take made him stagger mentally. He looked away and tightened the crossing of his arms. Joben frowned.

“Let’s get you to Fugaku then.” She sighed, gently touching his shoulder, though she had too stoop to do that. She headed towards the door and ducked lowly so Naruto wouldn’t be plastered against the door frame. She stood up straight as they were outside. The sight of Joben carrying Naruto seemed to frighten a lot of the villagers, but the added Uchiha element made it downright blasphemous.

The walk was relatively silent, occasionally peppered with comments by Naruto and short acknowledgements from Joben, causing the both of them to laugh. She looked down at Madara. He seemed content, oddly enough, though deep in thought. What could the four year old possibly be thinking about with such determination?

“Akagi.” Itachi greeted, having been on his way out of the compound. He paused, looking at the much shorter, much younger Uchiha with wide, confused eyes. It seemed like there was some recognition. “Who’s this?” _Maybe not recognition after all_. Joben chuckled.

“Noriko Uchiha.” Madara said almost immediately, remembering the name of a cousin. “Named after my grandfather.”

Itachi got down to Madara’s level and stared at him with apprehension. Of course he recognized him, Madara thought, a bit regretfully. If the Jinchuriki was just evolving from his tyke years, then Madara already began to influence Itachi.

Itachi stood back up, now looking at the fox's container settled on Joben’s shoulders. He had so many questions. “You’re taking him to Fugaku.”

“I found him at the Valley of the End. Decided Fugaku would know what to do.” Joben affirmed. Itachi’s eyes widened visibly, causing Joben to tilt her head. Itachi was an adolescent and likely prone to at least occasional emotion displays, but that was unexpected. Itachi looked back down at Madara, but this time, Joben saw victory in his eyes.

“Very well, Akagi, Noriko.” Itachi nodded in her direction. “Uzumaki.” He acknowledged Naruto, which made the boy smile brightly. “Have a good day.” He said. Joben could’ve sworn it was almost a taunt. Though he had no reason to taunt her.

Joben shook it off and made her way to the main household, where Mikoto greeted Joben eagerly with great concern. She couldn’t imagine what it felt like to lose a child, so seeing Joben smiling was both off-putting and relieving. It was hard to picture the foreign nin with any other expression.

“I’ve got one of yours here.” She gestured towards Noriko, wondering why he decided to lie about his name. She wasn't sure whether he was lying to her, or to Itachi, but she decided not to press. The boy clearly had business.

“Ah. Hello,” Mikoto smiled down at the boy, not recognizing him in the slightest. Joben worried about Itachi’s expression in the back of her mind. Normally, the matriarch of the Uchiha was reserved and stoic, but with children she was always kind and motherly.

“Good evening, ma’am.” He bowed deeply, playing the role he had set up for himself.

“So polite.” She fawned, “Do you know who your parents are? I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.”

“I don’t remember, ma’am.” He lied, dark eyes settling on hers.

“I found him at the Valley of the End.” Joben said carefully. “He’s not that polite to me.” She pouted, causing Mikoto to huff in amusement. Mikoto had great respect for Joben, as she herself was a jonin and knew the hard work Joben put in for the village, and occasionally for their clan when she was asked to assist them in private matters. If something had to be done that they did not want to do themselves, they would often contact Joben, because if anything went wrong, it would be easy to get her shipped off to Kiri.

“Valley of the End?” Mikoto echoed, concern returning as she looked over the boy. He was scraped up, but no heavy injuries. “Odd.” She muttered lightly. “Come, let’s go see Fugaku.”

Madara waved at Joben as he followed Mikoto, but Mikoto gestured for her to follow, even though she eye Naruto with a bit of caution. Joben sighed. She didn’t like the looks the poor boy was getting. She squeezed Naruto’s knee reassuringly as she brought him off her shoulders and carried him on her fore arm. He sat like he would in a chair. He had been shockingly silent through the whole thing, but she decided he was likely uncertain, or shy. She smiled at him and he returned it brightly.

“Dear, Joben has brought a boy of our clan. I can’t seem to place his patronage.” She said, knocking lightly on the door frame. Fugaku removed a pair of spectacles from his face and looked at Joben expectantly. He was surprised to see her in good condition. He had the thought she may take her own life after reacting so poorly to such a heavy loss. Even he, patriarch and chief of police, the example of stoicism, would likely mourn deeply for the loss of wife and child.

“Come in. Sit.” He gestured to two chairs in front of his desk.

After he bowed, Madara hopped up in one of them, feet dangling. Joben seated herself in the other and sat Naruto down on her knee. Fugaku eyed the blonde boy.

“You’ve adopted him?” Fugaku asked, keen eye never failing him. Joben smiled. Fugaku let a breath out, genuinely surprised. He looked to Mikoto. “Would you fetch Sasuke?” He asked.

“Yes.” Mikoto affirmed before leaving.

“I think it’s best if Naruto is not present for this meeting.” He said. “He can play with Sasuke in the courtyard while we speak.”

Joben smiled widely as Fugaku essentially acknowledged Naruto as a non-threat and even a benevolent force. Joben turned her head when she heard tiny foot steps. There was a small three year old standing and gripping the sliding door as he shyly looked at the company.

“Sasuke, this is Naruto.” Fugaku gestured towards the Jinchuriki. “I expect you to show him the gardens, play nice.” He warned.

“Yes, father.” Sasuke said quickly and waved at Naruto.

“I-Is tha' alright? Ain't he gonna be scared of me?” Naruto asked, looking up at Joben.

To say the least, Joben was surprised. She had half expected something along the lines of discipline problems, based off his track record with the orphanage she heard so much about through Koichi. She smiled widely and kissed his forehead. “Go make another friend.” She encouraged as he slid off her lap and ran after Sasuke who finally smiled the way a small child should.

Joben smiled as she watched Naruto go. Mikoto slid into the room and shut the door, looking at Fugaku worriedly. Joben’s smile vanished, and her brown eyes settled ahead of her.

Madara watched the Senju with an analytical eye. How quickly her happiness was gone. How quickly she became serious. Just like _him_. Madara looked at the patriarch, his wife standing behind him with a strong hand on his shoulder. Over the years, Madara admired the way women like Mikoto abandoned their submissive, traditional teachings and took an equal stance with their husbands. It reminded him of Mito, and the thought brought him amusement and pride in his clan that he thought was dead.

“Uchiha Noriko.” Madara broke the silence with his alias. “I don’t remember who my parents are. The last think I remember is this Se—this woman waking me up and carrying me here.”

“I see.” Fugaku said after a moment, tired eyes focusing on him. He recognized him, but he couldn’t place where or how. Perhaps he was imagining it. Regardless, it was worrying and the boy would need to be taken care of somehow. “I will put word among the clan. Until then, I suppose I could find someone to watch after you… perhaps Obito’s grandmother. She’s been lonely since the boy passed.” He looked at Joben, but he was speaking to Mikoto and Madara.

“She is not fit to watch after such a young child.” Mikoto reminded him. “She’s forgetting more and more with each passing day.”

“Then, Hideki may watch after him.” Fugaku suggested, face neutral.

“He has seven children, love. Too many to take in another.” Mikoto sighed.

Fugaku glared down at his desk before he looked up at Joben. Thoughts raced in his mind before he figured out how to make the best of this situation of the unknown Uchiha and suspected pre-defector. It seems Hiruzen allowed her to tie herself to the village with Naruto. He doubted that would be enough.

It would benefit him as well, if Joben looked after Noriko, or whoever this child was. His dark eyes trained in on the boy who easily held the eye contact, not flinching like even Sasuke did under his gaze. If Joben took the boy in, it would show good graces with the rest of the village. And with what the clan planned to do in the coming years…

“You seem to be taking in strays. Would you like another?” He asked. Noriko stiffened and glared at him now with wide, indignant eyes. The sight could’ve made Fugaku laugh in any other situation.

Joben looked at him with nothing less than surprise. He wanted her to look after an Uchiha? She looked at Madara, who glared at her now. She worried for his fate if she declined.

“Sure, though I plan on moving soon.” Joben admitted. She knew she couldn’t stay in the civilian sector of the village. She never particularly liked it anyway.

“You want this **outsider** to watch after me?!” Madara hissed, standing up, though much to his chagrin, he could barely peak over the desk. Mikoto couldn’t stifle the small chuckle that passed by her guard.

“You will speak respectfully to your temporary guardian, as to not give the clan a bad name.” Fugaku informed him.

It was a betrayal. Utter betrayal. He crossed his arms and glared at the Senju with such hatred that Joben frowned. He hesitated. He hated that frown almost as much as he hated her smile. He looked away.

“Fine.” He pouted. It was another thing he wouldn’t be caught dead doing should he stand as tall as he once did, but as a child, he got to indulge certain behaviors.

“Please wait outside for Akagi to take you home.” Fugaku instructed. Madara sighed and left the room. Joben straightened up, putting her hands on her knees and listening intently. “Why did you adopt Uzumaki Naruto?”

Joben stared blankly for a moment, though Mikoto knew she was simply trying to formulate an answer. Joben cast her eyes down to her hands.

“He…” She squeaked but cleared her throat to speak evenly. “He was Koichi’s friend. The orphanage kicked him out.” She spoke quietly.

“He looked a bit like your Koichi.” Fugaku remarked, causing Joben to deflate. The stern hand on his shoulder gripped him more tightly, to the point he worried about injury. “My apologies, I shouldn’t have brought it up so directly.”

“No, it’s fine.” Joben lied, staring at him with calculated neutrality that could have given Itachi a run for his money. “It’s true. He reminds me of Koichi, and Kouki, and all the childhood innocence I never got to have. I plan to protect him from the village…”

“You do not have faith in Konoha?” Fugaku posed the question carefully.

“That’s not it.” Joben frowned. “Konoha is… Konoha was her home, not mine.” She whispered. They were traitorous words in themselves. “But Kiri was never my home either.” She mended.

“So where is your home, Joben?” Fugaku leveled her with the question.

“I suppose… I suppose it’s where Naruto is, now that my Ko's are gone.” She answered honestly, before realizing her advantage. She looked the Uchiha patriarch dead in the eye. “So long as Naruto is here, is healthy, and treated with fair and equal treatment, Konoha is my home that I will defend with my life.”

Fugaku’s silence spoke volumes. His stress-wrinkled face dropped a bit at her proposition.

“Naruto is a target for many who see him as a threat.” Fugaku said after a moment. “And you intend to protect him?”

“Ah.” Joben affirmed. Fugaku laced his fingers together and planted his elbows on his desk.

“I would like to make a deal with you, Joben.” Fugaku said quietly. He felt Mikoto’s very minute flinch. She knew what he was about to propose.

“What?” Joben asked, completely lacking the formality that he held.

“I would like you to adopt the child, should we not find his parents. I’m sure you are aware it is purely political gain on my part.” Fugaku said. “I would not want to raise another’s child as my own, and that is a sentiment shared by _most_ Uchiha.” He informed her. Joben could have scoffed at the notion, but she refrained. “If you would raise the Uchiha, to our teachings, I would give you something in return, should you name it.”

Joben huffed in amusement and rubbed her face, heavily kneading over her eyes. It was a habit of stress. She folded her hands in her lap and looked to the door.

“It seems I _am_ taking in strays.” Joben grinned half-heartedly.

“What would your price be for raising Noriko?” Fugaku asked.

“Two things.” Joben said immediately, holding up two fingers, determination returning. Fugaku didn’t answer, so she continued. “One, I would like Itachi to directly mentor M—Noriko.” She corrected herself. “Two, I would like for you to allow your son and Naruto to be friends, should they get along!”

Mikoto’s worry was evident as she looked at Joben.

“I understand your fear of the boy, but he’s just that, really.” Joben leaned forward as though it would help persuade them. “He’s just a child. He’s not the one who attacked the village.”

“You know nothing of the attack.” Mikoto hissed. The thought of her son interacting with the fox demon regularly. There was no worse friend he could make.

“Very well.” Fugaku cut in. Mikoto’s face contorted with anger and she stormed out, nearly running over Madara, who only avoided being trampled by jumping out of the way. Fugaku let out a long sigh. “You are very sentimental for such a powerful shinobi.”

“Kiri killed a lot of souls and happiness.” Joben said. That got his attention. “I guess I’m just too stubborn.”

“Why is it that you want Itachi to tutor Noriko and on what?” Fugaku asked. He should have asked before agreeing, but the opportunity was much too enticing to give up. Having Joben’s loyalty to the village was important, but by raising Noriko, she would have a much deeper loyalty to the Uchiha. She was useful, because Danzo hated her.

Joben scratched her cheek, goofy smile painting over her features. “I just don’t think I’m fit to raise him to the Uchiha’s standards alone, so I think a little help would be much appreciated. And who better than Itachi?”

It irked Fugaku greatly that Joben was so informal, but he let it pass. He nodded a bit.

“It will be arranged. Do you plan to enroll Naruto in the academy? Train them to become shinobi?”

“Yes.” Joben said. “The academy here is much more relaxed than the one I attended though, so I’ll probably teach them a few things outside of that.” She laughed at her own joke, though Fugaku didn’t find it quite as funny. “If that’s all then…”

“Joben.” Fugaku said as she stood up. She hesitated and looked at him. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Joben zoned out for a moment. There was a light ringing in her ears.

“Ah.” She answered, ducking out of the room and looking down at Madara. She knew he had been listening, though he didn’t seem as scorned as when the idea was proposed. “If it’d make this less painful, I’ll let you help me find a new place to live? I don’t have a huge bank account like the Uchiha, but we can find something that’ll give you your own room, maybe a yard to practice in and—“

“I am fine with the situation, Senju.” He held a hand up to stop her rambling. His face was deadly serious, but he held his arms up. She snorted and scooped him up.

“You’re spoiled rotten. Has anyone ever told you that, Noriko?” She asked, testing the name. He narrowed his eyes.

“Madara.” He said, when they were far enough away from the patriarch.

Sure enough, Naruto and Sasuke had gotten along very well having just met. They were kicking around a can in the expanse of green garden.

“Naruto!” She called, cupping a hand over her mouth. He looked up after kicking the can and beginning to run. He smiled brightly and ran up to her. She could see Fugaku’s youngest deflate and pout a little. “Good news!”

“What is it, Jo?!” Naruto asked excitedly, reflecting her energy. Joben snorted.

“Don’t call me that!” She insisted, though. She hated that name.

“’Ben?”

“No.”  
  
“Lady?!” Naruto hissed, but he was grinnig ear to ear.

“Joben!” She stomped her foot a little. The surprisingly childish gesture made Madara huff in amusement.

“Fine! And what to I call him!” Naruto yelled back, laughing as he did.

“Madara.” The Uchiha answered flatly. The tossup between names was making Joben’s head spin. She would question the boy later about it.

“Oh!! What’s the news?!” Naruto suddenly remembered.

“We’re going to look for a new house together—the three of us!”

“Three?!” He was practically buzzing with excitement. He looked at Madara who rolled his eyes. Joben smiled.

“We’re going to be like a family, Naruto.” Joben nodded. She didn’t catch the way Madara stared at her almost wistfully. He put his head down only to be startled when she tossed him onto one of her shoulders and put Naruto on the other. Naruto smiled brightly at Madara.

Madara swallowed thickly, not sure how to react. No one looked at him like that since he was a child. Especially not Naruto. Sudden imagery from the war surfaced and his eyes went wide before he cast them to the sky, pretending to admire the clouds.

Was he feeling remorse?

Why would he?

Madara glowered angrily and pushed the thought aside. Ridiculous. Being a child was affecting his thoughts.

“We’re going to live in the nin-district of the village.” Joben informed them.

“Cool!” Naruto shot a fist into the air, laughing. “I want to become a ninja! No—I want to become the Hokage!”

“You will if you train hard enough.” Joben told him, walking through the evening crowd towards the neighborhoods. Instead of finding an agent and going about it the traditional way, she decided to wander through the residential area instead.

“I want a back yard!” Naruto said. “Or a house next to a forest!”

Joben nodded a little. While she had mentioned not being as well off as the Uchiha, she neglected to mention the sums of money she made off of A and S ranked missions, or the dividends that Kiri sent her to make sure she stayed in Konoha as something of a liaison of general peace between villages. She certainly had more than enough for a house.

“I want my own room, sizeable, and isolated.” Madara informed her. Joben smiled widely when Madara joined the conversation. “I would also like some place to train. I need a lot of space if I am to practice my clan’s fire style.”

“I agree.” Joben decided. “Oh—that one is for sale.” She looked towards a rather large house with a sign out front.

“It’s ugly, and it’s next to some family with a lot of dogs, absolutely not.” Madara informed her, pointing to the hoard of giant, sleeping dogs watching over a young tyke with red marks on his cheeks. She wondered if he and Naruto would one day be teammates. If he and Madara would get along.

“You can’t be too picky, Madara.” Joben complained.

“You promised.” He reminded her. Joben groaned.

“I promised to let you help decide, not to decide.” She clarified. “Don’t make me make you walk.”

Madara grimaced and flicked the top of her head, earning him a swat from Naruto. He swatted back.

“Stop it, both of you.” Joben warned. Naruto snickered and Madara rolled his eyes.

“Joben!! Look!!” Naruto pointed. “That house is yellow! We should get that one!”

“That one doesn’t have a sign out front.” Joben said. “And we can’t just pick a house ‘cause it’s yellow.”

“Why not?” Naruto asked.

“The house needs to be suitable for our growing list of demands.” She said pointedly, but laughed at her own remark. Madara sighed for what felt like the hundredth time.

Of course he’d be stuck with an idiot Senju and the too-loud Jinchuriki. Still, being that close to Naruto, he could craft the boy to his liking. He would teach Naruto about the world.

“Joben, you have children on your shoulder.” She heard a voice pipe up. She turned a little to see Kakashi. He looked at her expectantly.

“Meet my wards!” Joben said happily. She could see some sort of relief in Kakashi’s eyes. “Naruto and Madara!”

Madara nodded a greeting but Naruto waved eagerly.

“Boys, this is my friend, Hatake Kakashi.” Joben introduced them. “We’re looking for a house, ‘Kashi.”

“Back to calling me by degrading nicknames I see.” He hummed in disdain. Kakashi let out a sigh. “I’m just glad you’re alright.” He admitted. Joben hesitated and looked away.

“Of course, I am. Kouki would have kicked my ass if I cried anymore. She would have kicked my ass for days if I didn’t do something productive.” Joben said evenly, though her voice seemed a tad strained, Madara noted. Kouki must have been her wife. Odd name for a woman.

“I agree.” Kakashi nodded. “Planning on moving?” He asked.

“How’d you know?” Her eyes widened with genuine surprise. Kakashi chuckled.

“You’re wandering around, yammering about which type of houses would suit you three.” He gestured vaguely at the evident Uchiha and Uzumaki. It seemed like an odd combination. He stared at his late sensei's son for a long moment.

“You know any good housing locations?”

“Usually anyone above chunin settles for an apartment.” Kakashi reminded her.

“I need a house with a training yard.” Joben determined.

“There are public training yards…” Kakashi grimaced.

“I want a house.” Joben huffed, puffing her cheeks out. Kakashi snorted and covered his mouth, despite the mask doing a good job at that already.

“You may want to check with the Naras. They’re putting a couple of properties up for sale. It’s a bit further out, closer to the forest.” Kakashi informed her. “Shikaku probably wouldn’t mind selling to you.”

Joben frowned a bit. One of Inoichi’s best friends, and a man she would often go on S-raked Missions with. She blinked to snap herself out of the impending daze. “That sounds perfect, actually. I’ll do that.” She decided.

“Later.” Kakashi called, waving lightly as he hopped onto a roof top before disappearing.

“Why was he wearing tha' weird half-mask and covering up his eye? Is he a pirate?” Naruto asked.

“He has buck teeth.” Joben lied with a huge grin on her face.

Madara laughed quietly at the notion. He looked to his adoptive brother. As the thought occurred to him, he went rigid, now outright staring at Naruto, the word searing itself in his brain. **‘Brother’**. His mind was flooded with regretful imagery of Izuna in his dying moments. How weak this childish form made him to such thoughts. He felt utter disgust as tears dripped down his cheeks.

“Ma'ara?” Naruto said carefully, so he wouldn’t mispronounce it. “Why are you sad?”

“I’m fine.” Madara bit out, but it was too late. He groaned in annoyance when Joben looked up at him with concern. He fought her when she pulled him from his perch and held him a bit closer.

“Stop being so bull headed, Madara. You must simply be tired.” Joben gave him an out, that he gratefully, but silently took. He rested his head on her shoulder. If Izuna could see him now, he would not like it one bit. Izuna never liked the Senju, but Joben was like Hashirama. She was a different kind of clan member. He closed his eyes, confused as to the small sniffles that escaped him.

Naruto stayed quiet, occasionally peaking down at Madara, who now buried his face in Joben’s jacket and outright cried. He didn’t want to say something that would make his new friend feel worse, so he said nothing. People told him he wasn’t any good with words, and he believed them.

They stayed relatively quiet and eventually Madara stopped crying. Just in time as well, as they came upon the Nara’s main house hold. There was a small boy lounging lazily on the porch. He spared them a glance but said nothing. Joben vaguely recognized him as Shikaku’s son, and Ino’s friend. Shika-something, no doubt.

“Shika’!” Joben said, deciding to not try and guess his full name. “Is your dad here?”

“Yeah, he’s inside.” Shikamaru sighed.

Joben decided to leave him alone, and carefully ducked inside, accounting for the added height of Naruto. The ceilings were just too low. She sat Naruto down carefully on the floor, but still cradled Madara, though as they wound through the hallways, Joben using her very minute sensor training to find their way to Shikaku, Madara squirmed out of her hold and elected to walk behind her, watching the two of them suspiciously.

“Joben,” Shikaku greeted with a relaxed smile. “It’s been a long time. Who do we have here?” He asked, eyeing Naruto and Madara. She wondered if he heard the news about Kouki and Koichi. Given that he was so close to Inoichi, she was almost certain he did. Ever kind but quiet.

“This is Naruto.” She put her hand on the boy’s shoulder and Naruto waved eagerly.

“Hi!!” He said proudly.

“This is Madara.” She stepped aside, though Madara followed the movement and grabbed onto her leg, carefully peaking at the Nara suspiciously. He didn’t often trust Naras. They were a shady bunch, even back in his original time.

“Madara,” Shikaku echoed, brows knitting. “An odd historical figure to be named after. And he’s an Uchiha. Adopted, I presume?”

“Both of them are adopted.” She beamed proudly. “They’re my boys.”

Naruto’s smile was just as wide as hers.

“That’s good.” Shikaku said genuinely. He was wary to do anything about it, but he had been silently concerned for Naruto’s future. Though Joben was a rather odd individual, she would be a good mother. He thought of his best friend’s nephew and frowned. It was well hidden, but Joben was distraught over the loss still.

“I heard from Kakashi that you’re selling a couple of properties.” Joben brought up. “I’ll be moving out of the house that Ko—that—“ Joben suddenly choked. “That my wife and I lived in.”

Shikaku nodded reassuringly. “Yes. There’s one fairly close to the market that my suit you.” He suggested. “Four bedroom, two bathrooms.”

“Does it have a yard?” Joben asked, eyebrows drawn worriedly.

“Why do you need a yard?” He asked with a sly smile. “There are public training grounds.”

“I don’t want to train among genin.” Madara said distastefully. Shikaku chuckled in amusement.

“Scared you’ll get shown up?” He asked, smirking down at the tiny Uchiha boy. Madara growled and clung to Joben angrily. Shikaku looked back at the shinobi, returning to his relaxed expression. “There’s one property on the edge of the forest, and as long as the fire cracker promises not to cause a forest fire, I would sell it to you.”

“That’s a great honor, Shikaku.” Joben breathed, bowing lightly. Shikaku huffed.

“It’s not a big deal. I trust you, Joben, you should know that. I can’t count how many missions we’ve been on where you’ve saved my skin.” He admitted. “How embarrassing.” A grin took him again and he scratched his beard. “General of jonin, saved more than once by one of my jonin.”

“Hey, now, I think you mean special jonin!” Joben said proudly. She was fond of the title. It made her feel important.

Shikaku waved it away and pulled at a file. “Here’s information on the house. Including a financial plan.”

“You had a predetermined financial plan?” Joben said with a bit of amusement. “What if I had my own?”

“You’d still go with mine.” He told her, brow rising lightly. Of course she would. He was a Nara and he could convince her of just about anything if he put his mind to it. Joben rolled her eyes dramatically.   
  
“You’re probably right. I just trust you aren’t ripping me off.” Joben jested, though she was serious. Kouki was the one who handled the finances. Joben looked at a photograph of the house with stars in her eyes before handing it to Naruto, who squealed eagerly. Joben looked to Madara, and instead, handed him the complete list of details on the home. His small hands snatched it greedily and he looked over it.

So he could read, then. For a four year old, he seemed too knowledgeable. Not to mention the way he brutally killed the Anbu that came after them without batting an eyelash. Joben narrowed her eyes down at him drawing Shikaku’s attention.

If Fugaku allowed an outsider of the clan to adopt one of their own, it meant not only that he was planning something, but that something big within the clan was about to happen. Shikaku lit a cigarette and took a drag before leveling Joben with a knowing look.

She, as always, gave a goofy smile. Shikaku first thought she was some sort of over-grown genin, despite his habit of never underestimating a fellow shinobi. Still to this day, he couldn’t tell if she was putting up an act or not. Surely though, she knew Fugaku was up to something with this child named after Madara.

“There’s a dog in this pic'ure!!” Naruto said excitedly, pointing to a deer. Madara gave an annoyed look but Joben smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

“You’re doing very well, Koichi.”

“Mommy! Watch me again!”

“Wow! You’re a natural! I’ll bet you got that from Mama.”

Joben smiled at the exchange between her Ko’s. The sun beat down on her face and exposed arms and legs. Konoha was temperate, but today it was particularly warm. She carefully braided her hair as she watched Koichi make a small leaf float in the air with his wind release they had discovered only last week. There was a flock of stork, watching the one-day-prodigy with eager eyes. He was the child of Joben, and showed the talent she had very early on.

“Just like you, Mama!” Koichi beamed, showing the leaf dancing waywardly in the air. He was sweaty and panting and beyond exhausted. He had just about used up all of his very tiny chakra reserves.

The sun was bright.

Joben woke up with tears in her eyes. She blinked them away carefully and glanced at the blurry red numbers on her alarm clock. 4:32. No use in trying to go back to sleep for nearly a half-hour if it meant torturing her psyche with the memories in place of dreams. She sat up and stretched, loosing her braid and walking over to a dresser that was just a bit too large now that only one woman was using it. She stared at a family photo, propped up in an inexpensive frame.

Her shoulders visibly slumped. She picked up her brush only to flinch and drop it in the next moment. Her eyes widened considerably as she swore she saw a paler hand reach for the brush as well. She glanced around before hesitantly picking it back up from the cold hardwood floor and running it through her long hair.

When she looked in the mirror, she could see a pair of bright blue eyes behind her, glaring at her, blaming her. Joben cast her gaze elsewhere as she rebraided her hair. Her nimble fingers flew through the process with practiced speed. She cleaned the brush out, the way Kouki taught her to, so that it didn’t build up. Kouki had taught her so many things about keeping the house clean.

Joben silenced her steps and stood there for a moment. She had adopted two young children without properly thinking about it. Probably not her wisest moment, but she couldn’t let Naruto be homeless in a hateful village, and Fugaku was not a very kind man, not caring for orphans.

Naruto wouldn’t wake up at the sound of footsteps, but that Madara child…

She cast a small substitution jutsu, one Kisame had taught her ages ago. Instead of any sort of clone, she left something similar to her sleeping chakra signature in the bed before suppressing her own and stepping out of her room.

Her footsteps couldn’t be heard by anyone not greatly trained. She quietly opened the door to Koichi’s room and flinched a bit. It was clean, but there were a few toys littering the ground, deeply blunted kunai lying near a foam dart board. There were posters from a few movies, then a poster depicting the legendary sannin in their prime. She looked at the bed. It had always been far too long for such a small child.

_‘But this way, he’ll grow into it.’_ She heard Kouki’s words in her head.

At the foot of the bed, Naruto had curled up around one of Koichi’s favorite stuffed animals, a red fox. At the head of the bed, Madara laid flat on his back, sprawled out and tangled up in the shiruken-print sheets. She walked up silently and looked between the two with a small smile.

She didn’t regret adopting them in the slightest, whether it was well thought out or not. Madara stirred, as if he had sensed someone watching him.

His black eyes opened slowly, sleepily only to find an empty room, with the exception of the Jinchuriki curled up, ironically, around a fox plush. He sat up and rubbed his eyes just as a knock at the door caught his attention. He didn’t like having his new guardian be a ninja, because now he would have to train relentlessly to be able to sneak anything by her, and to once again hone his sensor abilities.

“Good morning, you two.” Joben hummed quietly. Naruto sat up, yawning and stretching. He had fleece pajamas and a rather cartoonish hat covering up his mess of blonde hair. “Big day ahead of us.” She reminded them.

Madara’s feet hit the floor, covered by borrowed socks, dressed in borrowed pajamas. He scoffed down at the bright yellow flannel covering his legs.

“Luckily, Naruto, you’re about Koichi’s size.” Joben smiled, though the name of her own son felt heavy on her tongue. She walked over to the closet, messy with things and dirty clothes piled at the bottom to hide the laziness from Kouki. Her smile fell and tears threatened to return to her eyes as she pulled out an all-black outfit. It would be a bit large on Naruto, but it would due. She would need to make a trip to the store for a set of funeral clothes for Madara.

“Before we get dressed though, let’s eat breakfast.” She hummed happily and made her way downstairs to the kitchen where she immediately began fixing a simple breakfast of eggs and rice. Normally, she would put a bit more effort in, but she didn’t have it in her this morning.

Still upstairs, Madara stared down at his much smaller hands before looking around the room. It was obliviously the room of a young to-be shinobi. Books and scrolls with wells of information of chakra and chakra release and control, blunted kunai for practice. This was also the room of a beloved son. There were countless family photos. He looked at one in particular. Joben and Koichi both in a river, finding pretty rocks or some sort of similar activity. He stared at the river, memories of a young Hashirama surfacing. His heart ached in a way he thought he’d never truly feel again.

He had work to do, though. First on his list would be to establish contact with Pein. He had originally thought on manipulating Danzo, but he didn’t even have his sharingan yet, and ultimately no skill. Even killing that lowly Root agent had taken great effort and was essentially sheer luck. Not to mention the fact Danzo had already located him.

No, he needed Pein on his side, the man obsessed with peace, by any means. He looked at the family photo once more, as something uncomfortable bubbled up in his chest. Longing.

For now, he determined, he would play along with Joben and Naruto, until he got the chance to contact Pein he would try to figure out what Hashirama had done to him, and if there was a way to reverse it. Though, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to reverse it. This was a clean slate, a chance to start over and be successful in his plans, now that he knew what his enemies would do, he could more efficiently put them down.

A plan formulated in his head. First, he would activate his sharingan. Preferably his Mangekyo sharingan. A pang in his chest caused his small hand to ball up in his borrowed clothes. He’d have to get close to someone, and then murder them. That would be the quickest way.

His options were a bit thin with the Senju being his guardian. He couldn’t kill her without causing himself some problems with Fugaku, who would like be able to overpower him even if he had a recently awakened Mangekyo sharingan. He couldn’t kill Naruto without somehow making a different person the Jinchuriki. He quite liked Itachi, but he certainly couldn’t kill him in this state.

Madara jumped as Joben opened the door. He looked up at her to see a shocked look on her face. Panic arose in his chest as he felt tears drip down his cheeks. She was before him in an instant, knelt down and cupping his chubbier than usual cheeks. His composure broke and he let out an embarrassing whimper. He wasn’t sure why he was crying. He hadn’t realized he had begun crying until the Senju gave him that look.

“What’s wrong?” Joben asked, wiping his tears away with a calloused thumb. He sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve before averting his gaze from searching brown eyes. He shut his mouth tightly, looking all the visage of a petulant child. Joben sighed and smiled a bit.

Though it was cruel, seeing him cry relieved her. The kid was scary. He was way too grown up for his age, as though he had seen horrible trauma. She hugged him tightly and smiled widely when shaky, hesitant arms came to return the embrace.

“C-Carry me downstairs, Senju.” Madara squeaked, trying his best to sound composed and regal. It wasn’t very convincing.

“Yes, your highness.” Joben laughed quietly and stood up, adjusting Madara in her arms. Much to his surprise, he wrapped his small arms around her neck and buried his face in her vest. “So, practicing your bossiness for when you become head of the Uchiha clan? I’ll bet you could beat Fugaku when you get those red eyes.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Madara allowed himself a small grin, as he heard the Senju’s deep laugh, vibrating in her chest and sounding like a strong wind through a dense forest. He relaxed a bit.

“Now, you need to eat so you can get as tall as he is!” Joben smiled.

“Why bother? I’ll never be as tall as you.” Madara said, allowing his guardian to put him down in the chair. Naruto was smiling brightly at him and he looked the blonde boy over suspiciously.

“You don’t know that!” Joben shook her head and sat down a plate in front of both of them before plating her own food.

Madara looked over the food before eating hesitantly. It was simple. It seemed the stereotype that shinobi only cooked simple meals was true in Joben as well. Rice and eggs. Still, food was food, and he wouldn’t complain quite yet. He would save it for later.

“Ma’ra!” Naruto suddenly said with his mouth full. “Wanna go to the playground?”

“No.” Madara said firmly until Joben’s sharp glare caused him to waver. She looked scary. “Fine.” He relented, causing Naruto to cheer.

“Bet nobody’ll try an’ beat me up with you ‘round!” Naruto laughed triumphantly.

Madara played with the last amount of rice on his plate. He eyed Naruto as he began to think about his options. He’d need to teach the kid some amount of self-defense, if people were attacking him. No need for the Jinchuriki to get killed before extracting the nine tails.

“I won’t let anybody hurt you, Naruto.” Madara smiled. Naruto blushed and laughed nervously, not sure how to handle the caring comment. Joben watched Madara for a moment. That smile was forced, but Joben couldn’t tell if he was being manipulative or putting in a genuine effort to be a good older brother.

“Alright, boys, here’s the deal.” Joben said, chewing her last bite before dumping her plate in the sink. “We have to get you funeral clothing, Naruto you can wear K-Koichi’s, and then we need to go to that. It’s at noon. Then we need to pack up the house, which shouldn’t take incredibly long. I don’t have much of anything. It’s mostly Kouki’s, and you two can have Koichi’s things.”

“But Ko’chi needs some stuff for when he gets back!” Naruto protested. Joben stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Madara just looked at Naruto and shook his head. Confused, Naruto ignored his worry and finished eating as quickly as possible.

“Then you two can go play while the movers get us into our new home! When you come home, everything will be ready for you!” Joben smiled widely, quickly busying her mind.

Madara tilted his head.

“You never told us who the funeral is for.” Madara said firmly, and took a certain satisfaction in the way the Senju visibly flinched. Maybe it was just refreshing to see the tall woman have weakness.

“Yeah! Who's the funeral for?” Naruto asked excitedly. “What’s a funeral?” Madara gaped, looking at the boy with shock and disgust. He was three, sure, but shinobi children were exposed to such things as soon as they could speak. He understood Naruto was an orphan, but even orphans received educations.

“A funeral is…” Joben paused, wringing her hands a little. She never explained it to Koichi. She was delicate with the boy and never wanted to expose him to the life of shinobi, despite the way she would occasionally train him. “A funeral is a celebration of life. The loved ones of those who have died come together and honor their memory.”

Naruto looked horrified. “Wh-Who died?!” He shouted, standing up in his chair. Joben looked nervously towards a portrait of her wife and son, as if pleading them for help.

“It’s them, isn’t it?” Madara asked, following her line of sight. “The two you had mentioned being purposely infected?”

“Yes. That was my wife,” Joben said, her voice coming out weaker than a trained jonin’s ought to. “My wife and son. I wonder who all will come.” She sighed and stood up suddenly. Joben didn’t see the understanding in Naruto’s eyes. Or the way he slumped his shoulders. “Naruto, go get dressed in the all black clothes. They’re hanging up in the closet. And you!” She pointed at Madara so suddenly he jumped. “We’re brushing that hair.”

“I-It doesn’t need to be brushed!” He choked out, coughing as he hadn’t quite swallowed his last bite of food. He quickly downed the glass of water, which thankfully cleared his throat. “This is the natural state of Uchiha hair.”

“Not in my household! You will be presentable!” Joben asserted, running to the bath room where Kouki had a number of brushes with different purposes. To Joben however, they were all brushes, so she grabbed one from the counter and ran back out, crouching in a battle stance.

Naruto giggled at Madara before darting upstairs. Madara, however, was significantly slower than both of them, and though he ran towards the window, Joben was quicker. She scooped him up and deposited him in a chair at the table once again. He gave up, but crossed his arms to show his displeasure as, surprisingly gently, Joben brushed through the tangles in his hair.

Much to her disdain, what she expected to end up like Itachi’s hair looked just as wild as it did before, but there were less obvious knots. She sighed and patted him on the head.

“Good enough. Naruto, are you ready?”

Naruto jumped down the stairs and ran up to her, grinning widely.

“Look at how handsome you are!” Joben laughed. “Those aren’t the clothes I was thinking of, but you certainly do have your own style, don’t you?” She asked, noting how he wore shorts instead of pants with knee socks, and an all-black shirt, instead of a dress shirt and jacket. It was fine. The boy probably preferred stuff he could run around in anyway. “Let me get dressed and we’ll head out.” Joben smiled and walked upstairs, half worrying once again about leaving Madara and Naruto alone together.

Madara was an odd child. She felt as though she may not be able to handle him, but so far he had been surprisingly well behaved, past her first impressions at least. Plus he stopped threatening to have her killed, and stopped acting like he was some 100 year old antique.

She sighed quietly and opened the closet, staring at Kouki’s brightly colored sundresses and civilian clothing. She brushed her fingertips over them before grabbing her funeral garb. She dressed rather quickly, uncomfortably pulling the skirt to her knees. She hated skirts as they were not well suited for Taijutsu. She smoothed down the collar of the shirt and hesitantly grabbed one of Kouki’s purple scarves. It was a deep violet color with the Yamanaka crest embroidered on the end of it, with a red ribbon sewn in at one of the hems. With lightly shaking hands, she draped it over her wide shoulders and looked in the mirror.

Kouki loved this scarf. She gripped it lightly, schooling her expression so that she would not cry again. She let her hair down. Kouki had always commented she looked better with it down.

Joben’s eyes cut towards her window as it opened. She had her pole arm in an instant, pointing it in the face of the perpetrator that had the audacity to break into her house. She wavered as she recognized the face of the intruder. She stammered, lowering her weapon only slightly. It had been years since they had spoken.

Despite the way they had parted on good terms, she knew to be wary of him. He was probably, and ironically, the most trustworthy person in the world, yet due to his loyalties, he was an enemy at the moment.

“It’s been a while, huh? How many years, Joben?” He asked. He grinned toothily at her, causing her to relax a bit when she realized he wouldn’t immediately try to fight her. He wasn’t the type of person she was eager to fight. He’d probably kick her ass to the next life and back, if provoked.

“I stopped counting. Your defection kind of shook me up, you know.” Joben grinned, cocking her head. “So, why are you in my home, Kisame? I’m obligated to kill you or bring you in or whatever, so you’re really imposing on me here.”

“Two reasons,” He began, leaning against the window seal as if he had every right to be there. “I heard about your family. And I was sent here on a mission.”

“Mission?” She said, carefully avoiding the other subject. “From who?”

“New leader.” He said vaguely. “You know, it’s not the type of information I would readily give up to a Konoha dog like yourself.”

“Right. Well, then.” Joben huffed, thinking for a moment as she finally lowered her weapon all the way. “I have no follow up.”

“There are two children downstairs.” He said all of the sudden. He thought back to his orders. He was to go ahead and capture the young Jinchuriki, advancing in the orders due to Madara’s sudden and unexpected absence.

“Oh, those two. Orphans. I couldn’t just leave them. Kouki wouldn’t have forgiven me.” Joben smiled sadly. “One’s a fire cracker, the other lights fires.”

“So, they were like you when you were younger?” He laughed, sharp teeth showing in what looked like malice, but was entirely good faith.

“Yeah, a bit. One’s kind of scary, more like you if I’d have to say.” She returned the laugh but hers was nervous. She sat on her dresser, grimacing at the floor. “You going to the funeral?”

Kisame bit his tongue, watching the ex-teammate mourn silently for a moment. He sighed and scratched his head. “I’m not really good at henges, so I can’t.” He admitted. “Still, I… I brought you something.”

Joben looked up with a degree of worry, now glancing at the carefully wrapped object next to his Samehada.

“Kisame, I don’t carry anything but a pole arm now.” Joben’s voice wavered a little, causing Kisame to sigh in frustration. He picked up the bandaged sword and tossed it her way. “Where did you get this?” She asked when she felt an odd sort of energy emanate from it.

“I stole it from Orochimaru.” Kisame admitted with a little sly smile. “You’ve got Earth and Water release, right?”

“Yeah.” Joben nodded idly, too scared to unwrap it.

“Some sort of weapon he made to go with one of his experiments that escaped. Apparently the kid had wood release, so he made this sword to go with that kid’s Chakra release.” Kisame explained. “It’s completely wooden.”

“No blade?” Joben asked, now less frightened of it. The last time she picked up a sword…

“I thought you may take my head off if I brought you a real blade.” Kisame jested, stepping a bit closer now that he was certain Joben wouldn’t attack him.

“I appreciate the gift, Kisame. The real gift was seeing you though. Now we know, you got uglier than I did when we aged.” Joben smirked at Kisame, who looked genuinely indignant for a moment before schooling his expression into an irritated neutrality.

“I can’t wait until we meet on the battle field.” Kisame growled, before stopping himself from finishing his thought. He stood up a bit straighter. “Joben, you’re likely going to be called back to Kiri. If I’m not mistaken, it should be here in the next few days.”

“I’m never going back to Kiri. Not a Kiri under… not…” Joben’s usually jovial expression turned gradually darker until she was scowling hatefully. “I’ll defect.”

“If you do, they’ll send Ao after you.” Kisame hummed, sitting on the edge of the bed, favoring to relieve the pressure on his feet. He has just travelled a great distance from Ame, after all.

“Fuck those hunter-nin. They can hunt all they want, I know all of their tactics.” Joben groaned, rubbing her face lightly before glancing at a clock.

Kisame leveled her with a stare when she finally made eye contact. They sat in silence for a little while. He would dare to label them ‘war buddies’. As at odds as they were, they had been through very similar hells. He had almost killed her, but spared her last minute on a whim. She’d always been honest. A trait scarce in Kiri.

“I’ll see you on the battlefield, Joben Akagi.” Kisame said, standing up and grabbing Samehada. He opened the window and pulled a hat onto his head. It did a surprisingly good job at obscuring his face. He hesitated at the window. “I remember the blonde woman you married.” He said as the memory came back to him.

“Do you?” Joben smiled.

“She betrayed her village by healing the two of us, after…”

“After we slaughtered our entire army.” Joben finished his sentence, gripping her arm uncomfortably tightly. She was shaking. How silly.

“Don’t mourn for the lives we saved. As much as I love killing,” Kisame tilted his head. He didn’t finish the sentence. It was a bad habit of his.

Just like that, the rogue-nin was gone. She wrapped the sword back up and propped it up in her closet before walking downstairs to find Madara and Naruto waiting at the door, Madara glaring off into the middle distance as if looking at someone, and Naruto rambling on about the types of ramen that some old man sold at some ramen shop.

“An’ ‘Ichi’s favorite was the Miso Ramen! An’ that man would always pu’ ex’ra pork slices in our bowls!” Naruto went on, causing Joben to internally flinch. Madara was eyeing her suspiciously. She prayed the young boy wasn’t a sensor. “Oh! Hey, Joben!” Naruto waved. “Can we go out for ramen later?”

“Maybe tomorrow.” Joben smiled and gently ushered the two out of the door into the overbearing sunlight. Very few clouds loomed overhead, and the blue sky bore down on them. She glanced up at it before sighing happily. This was Kouki’s favorite type of day. She glanced at the un watered plants at the house, before moving on.

The market was a bit empty for what Joben was used to, but it wasn’t hard to find a clothing vendor, set up in his normal shop. It was a sad little shack, wooden sign out front in sore need of repainting. He glared at the set of misfits harshly before Joben caught eye contact and stared him down. She normally didn’t play the silent ‘I could kill you right now’ card, but she didn’t want Naruto or Madara to see the way he had looked at them. It wasn’t something kids needed to be exposed to.  
  
“Madara, you… you’re small.” Joben said with a great amount of uncertainty. She didn’t want to ask the shopkeep for help, so she simply began looking through a crate of black children’s clothing, finding nothing small enough. With a groan, she looked back at the man. “Do you have anything smaller?”

“That’s the smallest we’ve got.” He said stiffly, crossing his arms.

“Lame.” Joben groaned, picking up Madara and Naruto. Their tiny legs would make them late. “We’ll just try elsewhere then.” She smiled reassuringly.

“Perhaps a store meant not for civilians.” Madara said evenly. “Shinobi supply stores are more likely to have black or at least navy clothing. I happen to prefer navy.”

“Black for funerals, Mads.” Joben glanced down at him. He adjusted his posture, trying to regain some sort of authority and ultimately failing.

“It’s Madara. Not Mads.” He frowned, before pointing at a store. “Try there.”

“Looks familiar…” Joben said vaguely, setting down the boys and walking them in. She glanced around a bit, looking a bit warily at the woman behind the desk. She looks up from a book that she quickly shuts and hides behind the counter.

“Can I help you?” She asked, looking at the three, but not truly acknowledging them.

“I just need some funeral clothes that will fit this one.” Joben said awkwardly, picking up Madara under his arms and holds him up.

“Oh my! Is he your boy?” She asked, delighted to see children.

“Oh,” Joben was caught off guard. “Yes, both of them.” There was a bit of dare in her voice.

“Say, they look around my daughter’s age. Are you two going to be shinobi when you grow up?” The woman asked, addressing her adopted sons now.

“Yeah! I’m gonna be the Hokage!” Naruto beamed, grinning as brightly as ever. Madara merely stayed silent.

“Really? You’ll have to do a lot of training.” The woman smiled warmly. “Oh!” She said again, looking at Joben. “I know just the thing!” She turned towards a doorway, hidden by a curtain. She pushed the fabric. “Tenten, dear! Can you bring some blunted kunai to the front, please!”

Joben blinked, before finally realizing the woman wasn’t about to scorn her or Naruto or Madara. A small girl, about Naruto’s height with brown hair pulled up into twin buns came waddling into the store with a small box of training kunai.

“On the house!” The woman declared. “We’ll throw it in with the attire. Let’s see… he’s probably a size… oh, this will work. Is a child’s yukata alright?”

“Preferred, actually.” Madara finally spoke when Joben sat him down.

“Then this will be perfect, don’t you think, Tenten?” The woman looked down at her daughter.

“Hey! I’ve seen you!” The girl jumped up on the counter and pointed dowards where Naruto stood. “You ran away from me! What’s that about!”

“You were chasing me!” Naruto snapped, crossing his arms suddenly.

“It’s called ‘tag’, you idiot!”

“Tenten, play nice.” Her mother chastised.

“What’s ‘tag’?” Naruto asked, looking up at Joben, who was doing everything in her power not to laugh. “What’s that?” He repeated, this time looking up at the slightly taller Madara.

“Tag is a game where someone is the ‘enemy nin’ who chases the others. Once the enemy-nin has captured someone, that captured individual becomes the enemy, and chases the others. It goes on like that until nobody can run.” Madara explained the game as he remembered it from his childhood.

“That sounds like fun!” Naruto suddenly shouted, looking back up at Tenten, who had her hands planted on her hips now. “Let’s play that next time we’re both at the playground!”

“Finally.” Tenten rolled her eyes before jumping down. “What’s your name? Mine’s Tenten—like the number, but twice!”

“Naruto Uzumaki! Or you can just go ahead and start calling me Hokage!” Naruto laughed, giving her a tight hug, just as Joben had done. He now used hugs as greetings, instead of shaking people’s hands. Tenten merely rolled with it and patted his back lightly.

The woman at the counter fawned over it.

“So,” Joben got her attention, leaning lightly on the counter as she fished through her wallet and paid her for the yukata. “This shop is new. Have you been in Konoha long?”

“Oh, no.” The woman shook her head. “My family is from Kiri, just as yours is, Joben.”

“You know me?!” Joben gaped, then blushed and looked away guiltily. “My apologies I don’t necessarily recognize you…”

“It’s alright! I always used to where a mask.” The woman winked.

Joben stared for a moment before a feeling of unease overtook her. The woman sighed loudly and reached under the counter, holding the mask up to her face. Joben felt her hand twitch, edging a bit closer to her weapon, as natural instinct when nearing Kiri nin.

The mask was all white other than red marks on the cheeks and forehead, looking like waves. Joben dropped one hand to Madara’s shoulder, but kept smiling.

“I’m sorry, I—“

Joben’s eyes widened and she suddenly grabbed the woman by the shoulders before pulling her into a deep hug.

“I can’t believe…” She whispered.

The woman, though she didn’t know her personally, was a defected hunter-nin. Joben hadn’t recognized her face, because her family had always worn at least half-masks.

“Technically though, we’re from a small village outside of Konoha.” The woman winked. Tenten smiled up at Joben.

“Hey, I have an idea!” Joben said, pleased to have met such a kind woman, though that explained why she didn’t scorn Naruto. “I’m moving into a house with a training ground. You’re welcome to it anytime you’d like. Maybe you, Naruto and Madara could train together.” Joben suggested, causing Tenten to blush and nod eagerly.

“Thank you, miss!” Tenten smiled up at Joben, before disappearing.

Joben thanked the woman once again, before departing. They still had a half hour from the funeral, but Madara had changed, simply to match the two of them and not stand out. He felt much more comfortable in the yukata than in the borrow clothes. Joben noticed the change and smiled down at him, though he simply sneered at her and looked away. It was progress though. He hadn’t insulted her.

They made their way to the cemetery grounds, where the underwhelming headstones were placed. They were not the first ones, but the second.

Joben nearly stopped in her tracks as she spotted Inoichi and Ino by his side. Ino’s rosy cheeks stricken with tears as she gripped tightly their namesake flower, before placing it on the stone. Inoichi stared down at the grave dryly, before turning and glancing at Joben.

“I am not mad at you, Joben.” His voice was quiet. “It was her decision ultimately. To take her own and Koichi’s life.”

Joben flinched and rubbed her arm a little. Madara looked up at Inoichi, recognizing him only vaguely as a casualty in another timeline. It was strange, meeting him like this.

“Who are those two?” Inoichi asked, finally turning and looking at the two. He recognized the Jinchuriki, but not the Uchiha.

“I’ve adopted these two.” Joben said, expecting to be lashed out at later.

“I see.” Inoichi returned, looking back at the grave in front of them. Gradually, more and more people arrived. A good dozen or so people were gathered there, all gazing about nervously, or offering their condolences.

“Joben Akagi.”

Joben turned to see Mikoto smiling at her, Itachi and Sasuke at her side.

“The Uchiha are here to support you.” Itachi, heir and child genius planted a hand on her shoulder, maintaining eye contact with Madara. Madara narrowed his eyes, realizing Itachi knew it was him. He looked away, doing his best to look regal.

“I appreciate it.” Joben tried to sound chipper, but her voice broke as she saw Hiruzen Sarutobi step towards the grave, standing just behind and facing the small gathered crowd.

“I do believe that the village is truly missing part of its heart.” The Hokage glanced down at the small shrine draped over the headstone, a photograph of Kouki smiling at the crowd, just to her right, the little Koichi. “Kouki Yamanaka was a phenomenal healer. She offered this village more than just her medical expertise. She was a kind soul who cared for others so much that it would often get her into a bit of trouble, if I remember correctly.”

Joben smiled, gripping the hands of Naruto and Madara a bit tighter. Madara listened intently, while Naruto did his best to understand the situation.

“Koichi was a promising young boy. I was certain he would grow up to be one of the greatest shinobi this village has seen, as both of his mothers were beyond kind, and above all, loyal.”

Joben’s heart lurched as she began to understand why the third Hokage had taken the time to come out to the funeral. The entire village was watching her. Nobody trusted her any longer, now that Kouki wasn’t there. Especially since she adopted what they perceieved to be the demon, and one of the Uchiha.

Madara gripped her hand a bit tighter, looking up at her with a hard eye.

“You shouldn’t cry for a fallen shinobi, Senju.” He whispered. Joben blinked her tears back and looked up at the sky with a small smile. How this child spoke with the seasoned wisdom of a warrior concerned her. “She is with her son, is she not?”

“Yes, and I’ll bet they’re making flower wreaths, again.” Joben whispered back, biting her tongue and forcing herself not to cry. “I wonder. Oniyuri or sayuri? Sayuri were always Kouki’s favorite.”

With lasting parting words, Hiruzen was gone. The last few people to remain were Itachi, Sasuke holding his hand, Inoichi and Ino.

“Why don’t you come to the Yamanaka compound for dinner, Joben?” Inoichi broke the silence. “I can imagine your new home likely doesn’t have an icebox.”

“W-Wait…” Joben stammered.

“You’re still Ino’s aunt, Joben.” Inoichi asserted, smiling at her sadly. “You’re still a Yamanaka to me.”

Joben looked like someone had just punched her in the stomach, but very hesitantly, she let herself believe him. She quickly hugged him.

“H-Hey, now.” Inoichi patted her on the back, a bit uncomfortable, but not insulted. “So, would you? All three of you.” He said.

“We would love to.” Joben grinned.

Madara looked up to the patriarch of the Yamanaka. Perhaps Joben was blinded with sentimentality, but this was yet another clan vying for some sort of political gain. Madara glared at the man, before glancing at his daughter. Her, he recognized. For a moment, he was stunned.

The woman that had actually gotten inside of Obito’s guarded mind with a jutsu her clan had recently created. It had only lasted a couple of minutes, but it was enough for the pink haired friend of Naruto to get close and deliver a rather painful punch while he and Obito were both stunned. He wondered when she would create that jutsu.

“M-My name is I-Ino.” The girl stammered, blushing heavily. Madara quirked a brow as she held her small hand out to shake. He hesitantly accepted the gesture.

“Madara Uchiha.” He said firmly, noticing the shy smile she developed. He wondered what that was about.

“Ino, why don’t you assist your aunt and your new cousins today with packing?” Inoichi suggested. Ino smiled before nodding and running up to Joben, jumping at her.

Joben caught her easily and laughed, tossing her in the air before catching her and putting her on her shoulders. Madara glared up at Joben, feeling childishly betrayed as she carried Ino instead of him. He paused when he realized the strange feeling and quickly looked away before Joben noticed.

Itachi looked on, glancing down at Sasuke, who was looking at Naruto. He caught Sasuke attention and nodded lightly, gently pushing him in their direction. Sasuke shyly joined the group of children.

“Looks like I have the beginnings of an army!” Joben laughed. “Would you look at that, Kouki.” She addressed the shrine. “I told you I would.” She grinned widely.

“I have a gift to deliver to the young Madara later.” Itachi said evenly. “I will bring it by your new home after you get settled.”

Madara narrowed his eyes in Itachi’s direction, but said nothing.

“Much appreciated.” Joben smiled, looking up at Ino. “Is everyone ready to get to work?”

“Yeah!” Naruto said, already running in the direction of the old house. “I bet I’ll beat all of you in a race!” He said, pointing to Sasuke, Madara, then up at Ino. Ino scoffed and patted Joben’s head, signaling to put her down.

“Yeah, right!” Ino squeaked, putting her hands on her hips. She flipped her hair out of her face before taking a ribbon out of her hair and tying it around her forehead like a forehead protector. “I’m gonna be the first there! Readysetgo!” She squealed and took off immediately.

“That’s cheating!” Naruto barked, but started running as fast as he could.

“Hey, Naru! Wait up!” Sasuke whined, following after the two, though he was significantly slower.

Madara simply sighed and looked at Joben before he got the hint and ran after them, though he did not put much effort in it. He ran just behind Sasuke, watching the boy with a bit of curiosity. How different he was in this timeline.


End file.
